Changeling the Remnant: Volume 1
by CDSoundtrack
Summary: An alternate take on the battle with Trigon, which eventually leads to the world of Remnant being formed. Some Mooks from the White Fang use Dust Alchemy in an attempt to revive the legendary Master of Beasts, who they believe will lead the Faunus to their place as rulers over humanity. The problem is... It's Beast Boy.
1. Failure

Changeling the Remnant

Chapter 1: Failure

 _A long time ago, before even Dust and Grimm, a demon wished to take our planet for his own. His very presence caused earthquakes and natural disasters, and he desired to enslave every creature that somehow survived his arrival. His daughter stood against him, sacrificing herself to protect her four friends, feeling they were the only hope for the world. One went to find her, while the other three had an incredibly difficult mission: they had to distract the demon._

 _In a desire to find amusement in the mortals, the demon brought their shadows to life and they had to fight the worst opponents they had ever had: themselves. Their shadows spoke to them, bringing insecurities and rage to the surface, until they realized how to truly win. They couldn't fight themselves, but they could defeat each other._

 _After a grueling death match that tested their limits, the original three were left, barely standing and exhausted. The demon was growing impatient, cursing the cockroaches before him and their stubbornness. He stood from his throne, a strange building that had been their home, and summoned a club from the hellish realm he called home._

 _As if on cue, the two returned, the demon's daughter cloaked in pure white as she stared down the beast that was her father. Summoning forth the demonic energy she was born with, now a pure white instead of black as it had been, she launched him into the atmosphere. He crashed against the moon, shattering a part of it completely. Due to the shrapnel entering his body, he let loose several pained coughs, his demonic blood falling to Earth in great pools of crimson, before the body he had sent to this realm began to become ash, his energies fading and being forced back to the razed dimension he was imprisoned in._

 _Animals and humans alike returned from the stone prison their skin had transformed into at the sheer presence of the demon, their memories shattered from the experience. The five, having not been stone, were disintegrated by the sheer energy, wiped away with naught but more ash spread across the world._

 _Curious animals drank from the demon's blood, and began to change. They became the first Grimm, and eventually their taint spread to those around them, becoming more and more powerful and violent until they were unrecognizable._

 _The demon's ash, and that of the heroes, spread through the land, sinking into the ground and becoming Dust. It is said that these heroes, somehow, lived on through their ashes, the abilities they used and words they lived by becoming imprinted into the minds of those who were surrounded by it._

 _From the leader, they learned that melee weapons could be used against the Grimm, as well as hand to hand combat, and the idea that teamwork of powerful individuals were the best bet against the beasts they fight, which eventually became the Hunters._

 _From the second in command, a man of metal, they learned ranged weapons could work well in tandem with their melee weapons, as well as the ability to create technological wonders and use Dust bullets. They were taught that the proper technology could aid in any situation, and that you must give more than one hundred percent to prove your strength._

 _From the princess of another world, Semblances were born, great strengths that enhanced the body of Hunters trained in its use. Speed, Strength, and Aura all came from her. Through her they were taught the power of allies and friends, as well as emotions._

 _From the demon's daughter, Aura was strengthened and could be used on its own mixed with Dust to form a type of fighting that used no weapon, sometimes called Magic. It had a Semblance of its own, but anyone could train themselves to use it. They were taught of the pains of betrayal and loneliness through her, not to mention the ideology that you must control your emotions, lest they control you._

 _And, arguably the most important, was only known as the Master of Beasts. People were taught to embrace their instincts and follow the teachings of animals from his Dust, and eventually they evolved to form the first Faunus. He taught them of discrimination, and how everyone is equal no matter what some might say. He also taught that anyone could be a leader if the situation called for it, but sometimes it was better to follow._

 _As the world and its people evolved, forming communities to better defend the innocent from the Grimm, the story was forgotten, the five forgotten…_

 _All but the Master of Beasts._

 _The Faunus looked to his teachings as they faced constant discrimination, forming the White Fang as a group to hold peaceful rallies and protests to show they weren't less human than anyone else. But things took a dark turn when the leadership of the White Fang changed, and the group became more warlike and brutal, hating humans just as equally as they were despised._

 _The White Fang eventually became hated by even the Faunus, feeling they were going against the teachings that they had evolved into. But they felt otherwise. They twisted the lesson to fit their purposes, saying that the Master of Beasts hated humans and that they should do the same. Sadly, it worked._

 _It is said that they have begun believing their own falsehood, and are trying to find a way to revive the Master of Beasts, and to have him help lay siege on humanity, allowing the Faunus to become the master race of the planet…_

"Are you sure this is wise? We don't know if this will even work." One nervous mook of the White Fang asked, looking at the pile of Wind Dust, green crystals with power over air, that they had… borrowed from the higher ups and centered amidst a massive alchemical circle with worry behind his Grimm-like mask.

"Trust me, this is gonna work great. We'll be heroes to our people, and finally get the respect we deserve." The second mook responded proudly, finishing the lines along the floor of the Emerald Forest. The circle had a pentagram inside of it, with Wind Dust and all the minerals that make up a human piled up in the center.

"But what about equivalent exchange? To create Ice Dust one needs to fuse Wind and Water, but what's equivalent to a soul?" The first asked, nervously looking around the clearing for any signs of Grimm. None yet, but this much Dust, and the power they'd be kicking up would have them swarming their position shortly.

"I dunno, but it should be fine. The story says he became Dust, right? That means the Dust should bring him back." He didn't seem to realize how insane that sounded, since he summoned his aura and began pushing it through the lines of Dust, which began glowing brightly. As it connected with the pile of minerals and Dust, the glow blinded them both.

A huge burst of energy attracted the attention of every Ursa, Nevermore, Beowulf, Boarbatusk, and Death Stalker in the forest as the two White Fang members were replaced in the clearing, by a very strange human.

He had light green skin, dark green hair, a single fang sticking out of his mouth, pointy ears, and wore a purple and black jumpsuit with a silver belt.

With a gasp, he opened deep emerald green eyes and looked around the unfamiliar area, his instincts going nuts as the earth shook beneath him.

Beast Boy of the Teen Titans was born once again, and he was in danger.

 **Wow, I'm kinda on a roll! Sorry about another new story out of left field, but I thought of it when I realized there wasn't an explanation of why the moon is so screwed in RWBY. Of course, that led me to "How can I get BB involved in this mess?" and it just came to me. I hope you like it, and yes, I implemented the idea of Alchemy from FullMetal Alchemist as Dust Alchemy, because why not. Let me know if you want me to continue this!**


	2. A New World

Chapter 2: A New World

Beast Boy felt… weird. One minute, he was fighting Trigon alongside his friends in the hellish remains of Jump City. Now, he was in the middle of a forest clearing, with the ground shaking under him and his instincts screaming at him to flee from whatever was coming his way.

"Wowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowoah!" A distinctly female voice screamed from above, making the changeling look up, and his green eyes widened. Above him was a giant raven with a white skull mask and four blood red eyes, swooping down towards him with two vaguely human shapes on its back, one was white and the other was red.

"Am I in Raven's head again?" He couldn't help but wonder aloud as he recalled the strange four eyed birds he had seen inside Raven's mindscape when he accidentally fell in.

"Weiss! Help me stop this thing!" He heard a shout, and the red shape pulled out a scythe at least as big as she was, jumping off the side of the raven and slicing at its neck with the blade, forcing it to turn just before it hit him. As the bird blew past, he noticed that it was a girl about his age, wearing a getup that made her look like Red Riding Hood. Her hair was black with red highlights, and her eyes were silver. She waved happily at him as they flew past, the unfortunate bird crashing into a tree.

"What kind of numbskull rides a Nevermore, and then for some reason decides to land it!?" The white shape, Weiss, glared at the red motifed girl, her hand at her side where she had a rapier. He couldn't help but notice the scar over her left eye, but felt like it'd be bad to mention it.

"Me obviously?" The red girl questioned before suddenly zooming over to him at speeds comparable to Kid Flash, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. "Who're you? Are you okay? Why are you green?" She asked rapid fire, as if on a constant sugar high.

"Uh, I'm fine, and I'm Beast Boy of the Teen Titans. Any idea where the others are?" He asked, finding the strange girl to be quite puppy like, while Weiss seemed cold and arrogant. They were kinda like Starfire and Raven.

"Teen Titans? Weiss, any idea who Beast Boy is talking about?" The reaper girl asked, stowing away her blood red scythe as it folded up… Okay, that was cool!

"Where did you guys get those weapons? They look awesome!" He couldn't help but burst out, before clamming his mouth shut. He had to be better with his nerdiness, especially when he was asking for help.

"I'm Ruby Rose, and this is Crescent Rose, I made her myself!" He seemed to have said the right thing, since Ruby's silver eyes almost glowed with pride as she extended her weapon once more. Now that he was close, he could see the scythe was ridiculously advanced, almost like something Cyborg would come up with.

"And I'm Weiss Schnee, I use Myrtenaster." The white haired girl spun her rapier around a bit, and she smirked with pride as the guard seemed to cycle, selecting pale blue and suddenly ice burst out of it, creating a starburst.

"Woah! How did it do that?" He asked, inspecting the weapons with some jealousy. Robin and Cyborg wouldn't let him have a moped even though they both had vehicles, and now these people had super cool weapons. Why was life unfair!?

"...You've never seen Dust weaponry before?" Ruby asked, raising her eyebrow at just how odd that was. Everyone either had or had seen a Dust weapon before.

"I've never seen ANYTHING like that before, or that bird. What did you call it? A Nevermore?" He felt like he should be incredibly amused by that, but had no idea why.

"Oh… We forgot about him…" Ruby gulped and turned around to see the huge demonic raven glaring at them before taking to the sky. "How should we fight it?"

"You don't have a plan?!" Weiss asked the reaper, who rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Actually… The Nevermore seems to be only a minor problem…" She pointed to the woods behind where the bird had been, and Beast Boy's jaw dropped.

There was a veritable army of werewolf and bear like creatures, with spikes and white skull masks, as well as red eyes.

"Beowolves and Ursa? They must've been followed your dude's friend." He looked up and his eyes widened, jumping out of the way as a massive feather impaled where he had been. "Not cool!"

Ruby zoomed over to the beasts and began… swirling was the only thing he could think of, firing what seemed to be bullets out of the base of her scythe to increase her rotations and slicing power as she cleaved the creatures in two…

He almost felt sick seeing these creatures slaughtered in such a fashion, but then he saw it. There was no light in their crimson orbs but bloodlust. Their entire purpose was to destroy. He had seen eyes like that before…

"Trigon." His eyes narrowed as he looked at the beasts, analyzing them with a trained eye.

The werewolf things, Beowolves, were small and fast, though they seemed rather weak.

The Ursa on the other hand, seemed slow and immensely powerful.

Making his decision, he closed his eyes, deciding to fight Trigon's… whatever the hell they were at their own level.

His eyes turned pale white, and his limbs extended, growing shaggy green fur as his face extended into a snout, fangs filling his mouth as claws grew on his fingers, and dark emerald green spikes grew on his elbows, a mask of the same color covering his head like an exo skeleton's skull, the red markings now black as spikes appeared across his back.

Letting out a territorial howl and ignoring Weiss' gasp, he charged towards Ruby's fight. The silver eyed girl let out a squeak as she saw the new Beowolf charging towards her, and spun around, forcing the black furred ones back as the green one approached.

"Ruby, don't! That Grimm is Beast Boy!" Weiss shouted as soon as she got over her shock, the changeling giving a cocky salute towards the reaper before leaping over her head and slashing at an unlucky Ursa who got too close to the young girl.

"How? Is this his Semblance?" Ruby asked herself as she fought against the Grimm, careful not to hurt her new ally.

He dodged and weaved around Ruby, keeping his distance from Crescent Rose. He hadn't fought back to back with someone like this before, and it was a challenge to not hurt them, especially when Weiss leaped in, Myrtenaster setting an unfortunate Beowolf on fire.

The three of them decimated the thoughtless beasts. Once they were all dead, Beast Boy returned to his elfin form, only to be met by Ruby making an adorable overly excited face.

"THAT WAS AWESOME! Is that your Semblance? Can you turn into other Grimm? How about other animals? Why don't you have a weapon? Who are you?" She motored off at great speeds, looking him over like he was some form of weapon. Technically, he guessed he was… Weird.

"Uh… I don't know what a Semblance is, I don't see why not, yes, I haven't seen weapons like yours before, and I told you: I'm Beast Boy of the Teen Titans." He responded to her questions in order, but felt weird when no recognition came over her. Like there was something going on he didn't see, not counting the Nevermore that was circling them curiously.

"Oh yeahhhh… Who're those again?" She asked, and he face faulted. Wherever he had ended up, no one knew about his team?

"We're a team of super heroes! Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and me?" Nothing from them. "Weird. The last I remember before waking up here was fighting Trigon, and all of a sudden Raven showed up in a white cloak…" He said aloud, and Weiss' eyes widened.

"Wait… You're the Master of Beasts?" She asked as if she couldn't believe it. There was no way this oddball was the legendary father of all Faunus!

"Master of Beasts? I've never been called that before." He looked at her questioningly, but she shook her head.

"It's nothing. Your story just has some similarities to an old tale, the first ever told. It was about five friends who saved the world from a demon, the father of one of them. They won, at the cost of everything that had been built." She explained, and Beast Boy's ears drooped. He felt like he was being told what he looked like. There were too many similarities between this story, and what had happened.

"Dude… I think that was us…" He looked down, conflicted and confused. How had this happened? He had apparently survived the fight with Trigon, unlike the others, but now it was ages into the future and he hadn't aged? He had thought his unstable DNA would have been the end of him, and that he wouldn't have outlived the Titans. But here he was, the last of them…

"Ruby? Get away from that thing!" A loud and boistorous voice shouted from the forest, and before he knew what was happening, a blonde with lilac eyes and golden gauntlets on her hands charged at him, hip checking him away from the reaper who had put away her scythe and was now looking at the blonde in shock.

"Yang, don't!" She shouted as she vanished in a flash of rose petals, appearing between the aggressive brawler and the changeling who was pulling himself to his feet.

"You know each other dudes?" He asked as he saw a shape pull itself from the shadows of the woods, having been following this Yang character. She seemed to have a black motif about herself, just like Yang was wearing yellow, and Ruby was wearing red, and Weiss was… Ohhh!

"That's my sister you were messing with!" Yang glared at him, and he raised his hands in defense. He did _not_ feel like doing this now!

"Look, I have no idea what's going on, but I just learned that my best friends are dead, and I would _really_ appreciate you not taking things out on me dude!" He vented a bit, and all four of them looked at him guiltily. But not Weiss though, who marched up to him with an ice cold glare on her face.

"If you _are_ the Master of Beasts, why are you helping humans?" She asked, and he swore he could see the still unnamed girl's bow twitch…

"Uh, because my friends were humans? Robin was all human, and he fought alongside us no matter what. Rae was half demon, but she had more humanity in her than plenty of people I knew. Cyborg was human, even though he was a tin man. And Star, she was an alien, but she was plenty human!" He glared back at Weiss. He could tell this girl was _nothing_ like Raven, no matter his first thoughts. She had an air of arrogance around her, as if she had been born with a diamond inlaid spoon in her mouth. None of the Titans had been like that!

"Please. You're the reason the White Fang is the way it is!" Weiss seemed to want to keep arguing, but before anything could happen, four more people ended up in the clearing.

The first had been riding an Ursa, and she pouted when it collapsed from the blows she had dealt to it with her huge mallet. She wore a strange outfit that looked kind of like armor, but not at the same time. She had orange hair and green eyes.

The second was next to her and looked… bored. He wore green, and had two knife guns at his waist. He had black hair and magenta eyes.

The third looked… wow. She was tall, like six feet, and wore bronze armor and high heels. She had long red hair and green eyes. She had a spear and shield.

The final looked terrified. He wore a breastplate over a hoodie and jeans, and had an old fashioned sword and shield. He had messy blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Aw… I broke it." The orange haired girl pouted for a minute before her eyes widened as she saw Beast Boy, and he felt imminent danger approaching as she launched herself off the Ursa corpse towards him. "Holy cow you're green like Ren but not like Ren since he only dresses in green and has green weapons! Are you an elf or maybe some kind of special Semblance kinda person? DoyoulikepancakesbecauseIlikepancakesandslothsandRenbutnotlikethatbecausewe'vebeenfriendsforagesandthat'dbeweirdsincewe'veknowneachotherasbestbudsforsolong!" She finally stopped to take a breath, and everyone looked bewildered.

"Oh hey guys!" Ruby waved as she recognized these other six people who charged out of nowhere. "This is our new friend Beast Boy! He can turn into Grimm!"

"He can… what?" The blonde knight asked, looking terrified at the thought.

"Oh, don't worry Jaune! He helped us fight a bunch of Ursa and Beowolves and a Nevermore." Suddenly, Weiss bonked Ruby over the head.

"You idiot! We never actually finished off the Nevermore! It's! Still! Above! Us!" Weiss punctuated every word with a smack, until the reaper was sprawled on the ground. The nine looked up and gulped, noticing that the Nevermore was getting impatient, and had launched a barrage of feathers at them. Acting quickly, Beast Boy tackled Weiss out of the way of one, the ice queen ("Hey!") having froze as the sharp ballistic fell towards her.

Yang suddenly felt camaraderie with this green guy, as if he would appreciate her jokes.

"This changes nothing!" She knocked him off her and stood back up with a huff, brushing dirt off her white dress.

"We need to deal with that thing first before your issues snowflake. I have a plan that might work, but you have to trust me…"

"Why should we trust you? We don't even know you." The black motifed girl that reminded him of a cat for some reason finally spoke up, with everyone but Ruby nodding in agreement. He sighed, she had a point.

"Look dudes, dudettes. I've fought things like that before, but not without backup. I can shift, sure, but I don't have a weapon or smarts enough to fight a giant raven on my own. I need help…" He admits, bowing his head. If the Titans were here… No, he would mourn later.

"Don't worry. We can trust him." Ruby defended the changeling, and the group grudgingly nodded. They would give his plan a shot.

The nine had run until they hit a ruin, and Ruby and beast Boy signalled for them to stop. With a grin, the two goofballs jumped off a cliff while the orange and red haired girls turned their weapons into a grenade launcher and a rifle respectively. The duo fired at the Nevermore to distract it, and that was when the magic happened.

A huge green raven flew out of the fog, rising further and further up towards the black Nevermore, who looked shocked at seeing another of its species with such an odd coloring, especially with… a small red shape on its back clinging to its feathers with one hand, brandishing a huge scythe with the other.

It dived towards the new avian creature, and as the green one lifted past the ruin, multiple colors jumped on its back before it easily evaded the Grimm. White, Black, and Yellow joined Red, while green orange and bronze ran around to distract it, along with Jaune banging his sword against his shield.

As Beast Boy in Nevermore form rose above the black feathered fiend, Yang and Ruby leaped off him, Crescent Rose and Yang's gauntlets aimed directly towards its wings as he dropped Weiss and the catlike girl off on top of the tower. The sisters hit the wings, but didn't seem to do much, only knocking it off balance before leaping off the Grimm back to the ruin.

The changeling shifted into his elfin form next to Weiss, looking at the pissed beast. They had barely done anything! Then his eyes widened.

"Ruby! Go for the underside of the mask! Yang, help me pin this dude to the cliff!" He shouted, turning into a Nevermore again as he charged the true enemy, the blonde acknowledging his call for aid by grabbing his massive talon as he flew over her.

Using her upper body strength, she swung herself onto his back and then ran to the top of his head just as they were about to hit the Nevermore. She raised her right fist and… Punched.

The sheer inertia of the blow alone was enough to launch the raven back into the cliff, but Yang had also fired what was pretty equivalent to a shotgun shell at the poor bird, so its mask was beginning to crack.

Ruby ran and leaped to the cliffside, leaving a trail of rose petals as she sprinted up the wall with Crescent Rose ready.

Weiss raised her hand, and a strange glyph appeared below Ruby, which increased her speed even more, much to the Nevermore's displeasure.

She swung her scythe and began dragging the beast up the wall, until finally, its head came off and she leaped back down to them.

"That. Was. Awesome!" She shouted with joy as she landed, bouncing up and down as she folded up Crescent Rose and hugged Yang, who couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll be damned Greeny. That actually worked!" She smiled apologetically at him, but he waved it off. No harm done after all.

"That was so cool can we do that again but this time with sloths and maybe pancakes because I like both of those things and I think that would make it even more awesome!" The orange haired girl bounced even more than Ruby somehow, and it made Beast Boy want to sigh. The green garbed guy, Ren, covered her mouth before she gave them whiplash.

"Sorry. Nora's… Hyper." Was all he said before two more people showed up. The first was a silver haired man with a cane and a coffee mug, and the second was a blonde and incredibly stern looking lady with a riding crop.

Weird, he had thought he had seen outrageous things before. These people he had met today blew everything else out of the water by _far_.

"Who are you and why have you interrupted our initiation?" The blonde asked with a harsh glare that made Weiss seem cuddly by comparison.

"Glynda, that's no way to talk to this young man." The old man sipped at his coffee as he chided the woman, before looking Beast Boy up and down. "Strong, resourceful, and a born leader. What were you doing out here?" He didn't seem to care that the changeling was green, or that everyone looked shocked at him.

"Uh, my name is Beast Boy, and I woke up here earlier. I fought a bunch of these Grimm things with Ruby and Weiss, than the rest of these guys showed up and we killed a Nevermore." He smiled toothily as he gave an abridged version of what had happened.

"I think we should get you all to Beacon Academy, including you… Beast Boy. Consider this your application, and it has been accepted." Before Beast Boy could react, Ruby hugged him.

"Oh this is so cool! Someone my age is gonna be in Beacon too! I hope we're on the same team, but you'll need a weapon! I'll make one for you later, I think I have a few ideas!" She carried on for a bit before separating from him, embarrassed by her childlike behavior.

"Do I need a weapon? I can fight by shifting and all." He secretly really wanted a weapon, but he didn't want to put extra work on Ruby. He was curious about this school though, but it seemed like this guy wasn't taking no for an answer as he sipped his coffee, ignoring the argumentative looks both Weiss and the riding crop lady were giving him.

"It is stated that every Beacon student knows how to use a weapon, no matter their Semblance. Seems like Miss Rose will be creating a weapon for you using the schools forge, all materials free of charge." He stated, before Ruby let out a squee and vanished, leaving a trail of rose petals. "Shall we?" He sipped his coffee again, following the roses like some kind of Hansel and Gretel on caffeine.

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. You are team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc!" The old man, introduced now as Professor Ozpin, continued to list the teams as Beast Boy sat impatiently, fidgeting with the uniform he had… somehow been talked into wearing as he waited for his fate.

He had been taken to the school and was given an extremely vague description of Hunters and Grimm, as well as Dust before being shoved into this room after he had changed and Ruby had measured him, muttering about weapons and almost drooling. Yang had explained that was normal for her. The reaper would be spending the night making his weapon she had said, something about her having an affinity for it because she was such a nerd.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long. You are team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose!" He announced as he sipped coffee and the four girls broke into smiles. But Beast Boy realized he was the only one left.

"What about Beast Boy?" Ruby asked, looking at the changeling in confusion, since he didn't have a team of his own.

"Yes. As you all may have noticed, we have an unexpected student who goes by the name of Beast Boy and joined up with us in the Emerald Forest. Because of his special circumstances, and how he was introduced, he will work equally with Teams RWBY and JNPR, going on missions with whichever team will need his help the most."

For some reason, Beast Boy felt like RWBY was gonna be where he spent most of his time…

He had yet to mourn for his family, or even find out more about this place. He had been rushed around so fast he had barely coped, but as he lay in a sleeping bag in JNPR's room, hearing Yang's snores from the room next to them, he let a single tear fall for his friends.

Cyborg.

Raven.

Robin.

Starfire.

 _You won't be forgotten!_

 **Wow, this story blew up with views! BB's weapon will be revealed next chapter, along with him finally having a chance to cope with what has happened as the school year at Beacon begins! I struggled with what his weapon should be, and how to implement him without having to come up with new team names, hopefully I did a good job with the latter, and I hope you all like the former next chapter! Be sure to let me know what you all think!**

 _ **2018 Edit: Fixed Nora's speech**_


	3. A Memorial They'd Be Proud Of

Chapter 3: A Memorial They'd Be Proud Of…

Beast Boy slept fitfully, plagued by nightmares. Unfortunately, they weren't even the normal ones. He at least expected and knew how to deal with those. These though… They were a whole new challenge...

" _Why didn't you save us Beast Boy?" Horrifyingly mangled versions of his friends asked, as Trigon laughed over them evilly, his titanic crimson form overshadowing everyone else._

" _I knew you were just a Beast." The Robin had said coldly, and a mirror appeared, reflecting not his elven form, but that of the Beast._

" _I'm not! I did my best!" He tried defending himself, but they all laughed harshly along with Trigon, and the Grimm appeared._

" _If so, why did you replace us so quickly? Two new teams in the same day you learned you weren't able to save us? You're writing their deaths in stone." Images of his new friends, both team RWBY and JNPR, now appeared, as they were overwhelmed by Grimm._

" _She trusts you because you fought by her side. How will she feel when you betray her like you did us?" The voices of the Titans asked as Ruby fell to a Beowolf… a green one._

" _She knows what you really are, a Beast, but you'll still be the death of her." Weiss' cold glare appeared, before a splash of blood covered his vision, and she vanished._

" _They trust you because Ruby does. They will fight and fall to you the moment you show your true self." Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Yang, and Blake all appeared, hatred shining in their eyes as they stood between him and a bloody Ruby, who was laying on the ground, silver eyes filled with betrayal and unshed tears…_

 _A flash of crimson and six screams of pain later, a bloodstained Beast looked down at the terrified reaper, who was now crying, fat tears rolling down her porcelain cheeks._

" _Please." She begged, cradling Crescent Rose, the scythe in its folded and harmless form, seemingly unable to fight back. Or at least unwilling..._

" _Do it. Give in and murder her like all the rest." He struggled against the voice, and tried to run at the Beast before it could kill Ruby, but with every step he seemed to get further away._

" _Pathetic. You know this is who you are, who your instincts demand you be. You love betraying them, don't you? Earning their trust only to rip their hearts out with your claws?" The voice prompted, showing a flash of Terra, and how he had given up on finding a way to return her from stone after two months. Another flash showed the house of mirrors, where he had sent her away. Then one more, a partial and shattered memory from when he was the Beast. The Titans were begging him to stop, but he kept fighting them..._

" _No… I'm not like that!" He tried standing up to the biting voice, so much like Weiss and Raven and the shadow he had fought against._

" _The only one you're kidding is yourself. You gave up on Terra, you let your friends die, and now you're getting ready to do it again!"_

"No!" He shouted as he finally woke up, cold sweat coating him as his panicked emerald eyes looked over Team JNPR, who all looked at him curiously, apparently having been up for a while since he hadn't startled them much.

"You alright?" Pyrrha asked the changeling, green eyes like his looking at him with concern.

"...I'm just fine dudes!" He smiled unconvincingly, and they all gave him a look that clearly read 'bullshit'.

"You talk in your sleep." The champion said bluntly, making him wince. He hadn't told his old friends about the dreams, and he didn't want to let these guys know. It felt like it would be a betrayal of the Titans if he talked about something he hid from them with these people he had just met not 24 hours ago!

"Oh yeah? Nothing bad I hope." His eyes flitted around the room trying to find a reason to change the subject. His ears drooped when he realized even Nora was looking at him without saying a word, the bomber's boundless energy temporarily contained.

"What's the Beast?" He could almost _feel_ his cold sweat suddenly turn to ice as the redhead asked that. It was the worst possible outcome. Time for some bullcrap that Cy would be proud of…

"Nothing dude, just a villain my friends and I would tangle with sometimes way back when." Pyrrha seemed to grudgingly accept this lie, since she shook her head and finished adjusting her uniform.

"We are your team Beast Boy. At least, one of them. We're here for you if you ever want to talk…" She said lamely, looking at the rest of team JNPR for backup from the encroaching awkward silence. They had all been caught up on exactly _who_ Beast Boy was by Weiss and Blake, the former being incredibly icy and the latter quite thoughtful.

Before anything could be said, a huge crash came from the room that belonged to RWBY. Curiously, they all poked their heads out the door, and saw the four girls sprinting as fast as they could, Ruby carting a strange box with her.

"Crap crap crap crap crap!" The reaper seemed to be shouting as they vanished from sight, the hooded cloak she wore over her uniform whipping in the breeze of rose petals she kicked up.

"What's got her so freaked out this early in the morning? I mean, it's only about nine. That makes no sense since it isn't even time for classes. What time do classes start Ren? I wanna know so that I can check out if there are any sloths around here but I don't want to miss any class because that would be an awkward way to start the semester and I want you to come with me because I like us being together but not together-together since we've been friends for so long but you know what I meant." Nora babbled out as she leaned on Ren, who collapsed. It seemed like dealing with the bomber on a daily basis took a lot out of the guy.

"Classes start at… Nine!" He immediately leaped back up, and team JNPR plus Beast Boy took off after RWBY.

"I do _not_ want to be late on my first day of school! That'd be incredibly embarrassing!" The changeling shouted, inwardly thankful that they had stopped talking about his nightmares. He would deal with those on his own time, on his terms!

Ozpin and Glynda looked on in amusement as the nine rushed to class, Beast Boy catching up surprisingly well to Ruby while the other seven formed a small mob behind the two.

"Was it a good idea to allow him into Beacon? Especially if he's who everyone thinks he is?" The blonde asked, raising an eyebrow as he kept pace with the speed Semblance reaper.

Ozpin sipped at his coffee. "I feel like he is just what we need."

"But his mental condition! No one would be able to come out of something like that unscathed, especially not a child!" She defended her point of view to the Headmaster.

"He's no child. He may be young, but he's a fighter, and a leader. I feel he's never truly been a child, so being here, making friends with RWBY and JNPR, will actually help him in the long run. He and Ms. Rose will both be 19 when they graduate, this is truly his last chance to be a kid. Let him have this before everything is torn from him yet again." He took another sip of coffee as he spoke sagely, making Glynda look at him with worry.

"You say that as if you know something is going to happen."

"Misfortune always favors the powerful." Was all he said after that, heading to his office as he left Glynda cursing his mysterious ways.

"Grimm! Monsters! Deeeeemons!" An… unusual man with extremely bushy grey hair stood in front of a lecture sized class, the nine students making it just in time for Grimm Studies.

Beast Boy wasn't really paying attention, instead looking with awe at the anatomy pictures of several Grimm on the wall.

King Taijitu, a massive serpentine monster with one black head and one white head.

Goliath, an elephant.

Beowolf.

Ursa Minor and Ursa Major.

Nevermore.

Boarbatusk, a boar.

His emerald eyes scanned every bit of these animals as Port pt talking, storing away these new forms in his 'databank'. Strangely, when he had attacked the Grimm he had felt just how durable they were. His normal forms wouldn't be able to do anything to them without a huge amount of wasted force. It would be easier to just shift into Grimm or wait for the weapon Ruby was making for him, whatever that was.

He just hoped it wasn't claws, he felt like the very idea was a cliche. Give the animal guy claws they'll say, it'd be hilarious they'll say. He wanted something… different. To give himself a defining difference to the Beast and show he wasn't like that thing inside him.

He was so focused on this line of thought he didn't hear Port volunteer him until Yang elbowed him.

"Hey B, why so green?" She smirked, lilac eyes dancing with amusement as everyone but the changeling and brawler groaned. His emerald orbs glistened in territorial amusement. Bad puns were his thing dammit!

"Nothing, just trying to get the _Yang_ of this school." He shot back, the terrible pun causing some boos.

"Port wants you up there, try not to look so _Grimm_." She gestured to the teacher, who was patiently waiting as the puns went back and forth.

"Get your green butt up there!" Before he could react in kind, Blake (or was it Weiss? Someone who sounded annoyed as hell anyway) shoved him, and he ended up rolling down the steps of the lecture hall

"Thank you for getting him down here Miss Schnee." Ah, so it was Weiss. Rude. "So young Mr. Beast, you did not apply to Beacon, but you've been accepted because of your teamwork with teams RWBY and JNPR against a quite large Nevermore. Because of these special circumstances, I must ask, do you feel you have what it takes to be a hero?" His eyes hardened and he bit back a growl.

"I've been a hero for years now." His brain turned traitor for a moment, giving him a flashback of the time he was a criminal, but he pushed it down.

"Oho! Such confidence from one so young!" He smacked the changeling on the back as he stood up, which made him buckle. "How about you grab your weapon and armor, and we'll see just what you can do." Beast Boy gulped.

"I don't really have armor, or a weapon." He admitted, before he heard a whooshing sound, and suddenly Ruby was in front of him, offering him the large box she had been carrying with her. "Ruby? What's this?"

"Well, I finished your weapon last night." She beamed at him, silver eyes showing just how excited she was.

"You… Made me a weapon in one night?" He had no idea what the hell was happening anymore. Considering she made Crescent Rose herself, and it was a telescoping scythe/high impact sniper rifle, he guessed it wouldn't take long for her to make him a simple weapon, especially with her Semblance.

"Yup! Go ahead and take a look!" He took the box from her, opening it. His eyes widened as he saw just what the reaper had made for him.

It was a deep emerald green like himself. It seemed to be two slightly curved swords with a grip in between them to make some kind of stringless bow or a strange curved staff. He tentatively picked it up, testing its weight in his hand as he set the box down. It felt… warm. Instinctively he reached between the blades, pretending to grip a bowstring as a small green orb of light appeared, along with a translucent string. He took his left hand away from the string, and both it and the orb faded.

"Ruby… What was that?" He was even more amazed, this weapon was incredibly complex, especially for only a single night!

"That's… Well, your weapon! Its ranged mode uses your Aura so you don't have to rely on Dust!" She seemed incredibly proud as he felt how balanced it was. He placed his other hand on the grip, and it felt like it could twist. He did so, and the blades separated into short swords with a blade length of two feet, with the grips being half a foot. "Oh yeah! They also separate so you can fight in close range as well as mid!" She acted as if she had forgotten momentarily, and considering how tired she must be by now, she couldn't be blamed.

"Weaponry that uses Aura instead of Dust… Ms. Rose, that is rather dangerous. Too much use could sap Mr. Beast to dangerous levels. That's why no one uses it anymore." Port's eyebrows were raised at the weaponry, as were the brows of everyone in the classroom.

"It's… perfect. Thank you Ruby." She beamed at the praise, rushing back to her seat eagerly in a trail of rose petals. "Now, what am I facing here? You Professor?" He asks as he starts twirling the blades, before reconnecting them into staff form.

"No my dear boy, you'll be facing… this!" He tapped his desk, and suddenly a cage with a large Boarbatusk inside rose up from beneath the floor.

"I thought I smelled something. Thought it was Yang though." ("The hell?!") He chuckled as he faced the Grimm, who was reacting to seeing an armed Hunter with rage. Looking at the crowd, he couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Go Beast Boy!" Blake, somehow, had a flag with a chibi him on it, its right hand in a peace sign. All while her amber eyes flitted from him and the Boarbatusk to her book and back again.

Weiss looked incredibly incensed at even being in the same room as him, her ice blue eyes shooting holes in his head.

Ruby was falling asleep, her head lolling on her arm as her hood covered her face.

Yang was giving the Grimm (and him quite possibly) rude gestures, though the playful smile on her face showed she didn't mean anything by it.

Jaune had his head down as well, though his blue eyes were peeking through his fingers.

Pyrrha had somehow acquired the exact same flag as Blake, though she was smiling enthusiastically.

Nora… Okay then. She was selling Beast Boy merchandise, and taking bets on the fight. How the bomber had created all of that product in such a short time span, he didn't know.

Ren had a smug look on his face, and a betting ticket in his hand.

Beast Boy shook his head at their antics, facing the Boarbatusk as Port released it from the cage and a small shield sealed himself and the Grimm away from others.

"Okay dude, bring it." He taunted the creature, pushing down a malicious sounding thought that wanted him to shift. He needed to learn this weapon. Now that he had the option, he would separate himself from his bestial nature.

 _You can try, but we are one and the same._ A dark voice cooed as the Grimm charged. He jumped to the side and swung the blade at the creature, the bone plates covering it causing the strike to slide straight off.

 _You want to feel this creature as you tear it apart with your claws, just like those fools who thought they could trust you_. The Grimm turned around and tried again as the voice kept prodding. This time, he charged as well, planting his foot on its snout as he leaped over it, his eyes scanning for a weakness as he fell to the ground, catching himself in a roll.

The Boarbatusk fell on its side, its underbelly now exposed. Noticing the lack of armor on its underside, he activated his weapon's 'bow' function, this time pulling on the translucent string until it was taught. He took aim, and fired. The green orb impaled the monster, and it stopped moving. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ren being given a large amount of Lien by several disgruntled students, as Port deactivated the shield and walked over to him.

"Very well done! You used your weapon's Aura Bolt however. How did it feel?" The bushy facial haired professor seemed to be hiding something, but Beast Boy couldn't place it.

"Didn't feel anything." He shrugged. When he heard that the weapon used his own energy, he had worried he would feel drained after using it, but that didn't seem to be the case, since he didn't feel any different. Maybe he just had that much Aura?

"Well that is good to hear. I suggest you learn to use your weapon, since it is meant to be an extension of yourself."

The bell rang, and they all headed to lunch, except for Weiss, who had stayed behind to talk to Port for some reason.

"So, what are you going to name him?" Ruby asked excitedly as they sat down, looking adoringly at Beast Boy's weapon, he had the blades separated and sheathed on each hip, to more easily carry them.

"I don't really know." His ears drooped, kind of ashamed he hadn't thought to name them.

"Well, you need to make sure that its name has meaning. Take Crescent Rose! Crescent is from the shape of the blade and how she can shine like the moon, while Rose marks it as a member of my family." She pulled out the collapsed scythe and… snuggled it.

Unfortunately, that made him flash to his nightmare, where she had been in a similar position, but scared. Of him.

"Hey, I'll catch up to you guys later. I gotta go." Beast Boy left without a single bite of food, taking off as fast as he could to get away from them. He couldn't face them when a part of him hungered for their demise.

He ignored their calls for him as he ran through Beacon, finally ending up on the roof of the boarding school. He drew one of the blades and looked at it, his reflection shining back at him.

His mind was aswirl with everything that had happened. Memories of the Titans, his nightmare, his fighting alongside JNPR and RWBY, and fighting the Boarbatusk without shifting.

He sat there for a moment, before he pulled the glove off his right hand, exposing his small claws, curved and sharp. He gently scraped at the leather grip right below the guard, and then did the same to the other blade once he had finished with the first.

On his right hip's blade, the grip had the names Cyborg and Robin carved into it.

On his left, Starfire and Raven were carved.

He knew the name of his weapon now: Emerald Remembrance. He would fight for the memory of the Teen Titans, and for his new friends!

 **Hey everyone! Hope you liked this chapter, and now its time to explain a few things. BB's weapon is based off of the bow Pit from Kid Icarus uses if you wanted an image, and it absorbs a bit of his Aura in order to create a 'bowstring' and 'arrows'. He does have Aura, since he was reanimated with Dust, and he has quite a bit of it as well. Also, he will be using his weapon far more than shifting, because of something you may have picked up on. Because Grimm follow negativity, and his head is a breeding ground of it thanks to the shadow he had fought as well as survivor's guilt, he can't even be near a Grimm without hearing the whispers of his doubt and aggression, and being one is even worse.**

 _ **2018 Edit: Fixed Nora's Speech**_


	4. A Moment to Catch his Breath Interrupted

Chapter 4: A Moment to Catch his Breath Interrupted

It was only now that he realized it was the first time in twenty four hours or so he was alone. Sure, RWBY and JNPR were no doubt looking for him, but Beacon was a big place. He looked up at the clear blue sky, before closing his emerald eyes and trying to hold back his emotions. He just had to figure out everything he was feeling right now.

Denial. He didn't want to accept that he was the last of the Titans, or that everyone he knew and loved was dead.

Anger. His pent up rage, not only at himself, but at everything, threatened to devour him. The Grimm, Ozpin, Trigon, himself. The more he thought about it, the more he had to focus on not getting completely pissed. Why did just being around the Grimm make his inner doubts so much stronger? Why did Ozpin not give him a say in anything? What were the Grimm's connection with Trigon? Why the hell didn't he know any of this?

Sadness. He inwardly knew that the things he knew were long gone, since the world itself felt far more different. Even Emerald Remembrance felt strange, and he had borrowed tools and weapons from Robin and Cyborg before. The strange weapon seemed to be synched with his Aura.

Speaking of, what the hell _is_ Aura? His soul? How come using the bow didn't tire him if he used his soul as fuel? He had no idea at all, but it made him feel more powerful having that strange energy running through him.

And scared. More than anything, he was scared and confused. He woke up to learn thousands of years at least have passed, with his friends and family alike all dead. Not only that, he met new people immediately, one of which seems to hate his guts while the other seven seemed to have accepted the strange green 15 year old who could turn into the monsters they were training to kill without a second thought. What if he made them regret that trust? What if his nightmares became reality? He was already shouldering the graves of the Titans, he hated the thought of RWBY and JNPR (Yes, even Weiss. She may be rude, but he could tell there was more to her) joining them.

Everything had been happening so fast, he could barely keep up. His head was still spinning from the Emerald Forest, and he hadn't actually had time to mourn for his friends, or anything.

He finally let tears fall as his emotions overcame him. He cried for Raven Starfire Robin and Cyborg. He clenched his fists at his instincts, the predatory feelings instilled in him by Mento's militant style of training somehow much more powerful than before, manifesting in a dark and oily voice like Trigon's shadow of himself. He screamed in rage at Ozpin, who for some reason thought he had the authority to decide what he would do after he had finished off that Nevermore. He slammed a fist into the wall because of the Grimm, and how they somehow impacted his instincts. His prey voice suggested he run like hell, hiding in an alcove where the monstrous creatures couldn't find him. His predator voice, much stronger than that of the prey, especially now, wanted him to fight and prove himself as an Alpha, killing anything in his way. They didn't even care if it was human or Grimm!

He finally grew silent, his voice hoarse from screaming and crying while his hand bled and ached from being clawed and slammed against the wall. Panting, he wiped the tears away before putting the glove back on his clawed hand. He was actually kind of impressed with himself, he hadn't known how much pain he was in until he let it all out.

"Found him." Beast Boy jumped as the new arrival to the roof spoke up. Ren. Unsurprisingly, he had brought Nora.

"What's wrong BB are you okay why did you run off like that don't you like us anymore why did Ruby talking about her scythe make you run off like that are you upset she likes Crescent Rose that much are you jealous do you like Ruby?" The orange haired bomber went off at him as she dragged Ren right up to him, poking him in the chest accusingly.

"...What?" He asked in pure confusion as he looked at the polar opposites in front of him. Ren sighed as he realized he would have to translate for the hammer wielder yet again.

"She wants to know why you suddenly ran off. Whether it's because you got sick of us or if you have a crush on Ruby and you got jealous that she was so affectionate with Crescent Rose." He says with a deadpan expression, and Beast Boy's eyes widened.

"Wait, Nora, you think I like Ruby?" That seemed so absurd. They had just met! Sure, he was infatuated with Terra immediately, but he wasn't dealing with a psychological breakdown back then!

"Well she seems to be the one you're closest to out of all of us and she made you your weapon and you and her remind me of Ren and I but we don't like each other like that because we've always been together just not together-together." This time the changeling caught what she was saying, and he couldn't help but smile tiredly but mischievously.

"That's a very specific denial Nora. Are you sure you don't like Ren?" Unfortunately, she blushed brightly and glared at him, grabbing Magnhild from her back. "Uh… Dude?"

She swung the mallet as hard as she could into BB's chest. His Aura protected him from the brunt of the damage, but unfortunately it didn't stop the inertia that launched him into the airway over Beacon.

He shook his head to clear it as he felt the wind whipping across his body, his emerald eyes widening as he saw just how high Nora had launched him. He tried to shift into something, anything, that could fly, but found it beyond him for some reason. Beast Boy gulped as he saw the shapes he was falling towards, one red and one yellow. Inwardly he gulped.

 _Please be Jaune and Pyrrha please be Jaune and Pyrrha please be Jaune and Pyrrha!_ His inner voice shouted as he grew closer, and he closed his eyes as he impacted. Opening his eyes, he was met with… Oh jeez…

"DO NOT PUT MOVES ON MY BABY SISTER!" The pissed off yell of a blonde brawler made Beast Boy close his eyes in fear as Ember Celica pounded against his side, the concussive round locked into the gauntlet sending him flying yet again, off of a startled Ruby Rose, this time over the Emerald Forest.

"WHYYYYYY?!" He cried as he found himself fast approaching the ruins where his teams had fought a Nevermore. He braced himself, knowing that Aura or not this would hurt like a bitch.

A loud crash greeted him, but instead of a hard stone floor, he fell through a disguised trapdoor in the ruins, onto a slightly softer floor that still hurt, but not nearly as much. Rising to his feet and dusting himself off, he looked around.

It was surprisingly clean for being underneath ancient ruins, and had the look of a dojo from Jump City, hitting Beast Boy with nostalgia from the time Robin had tried teaching them a martial art, an effort in futility that had ended with them being banned from the dojo and getting pizza instead.

In retrospect, they should have been more careful , but when Johnny Rancid shows up with a brand new robot dog, you tend to forget the whole 'careful' thing.

He sniffed the stale air, his curiosity peaked to see if he could find out more from this place, but then he picked up a scent that made his blood run cold. One from his time as a Teen Titan.

And as if that was not bad enough, the smell was accompanied with a cold voice, monotonic and yet smug at the exact same time.

"Well well Beast Boy. It has been a long time." A copper mask showing the left side of a face while the right was still hidden in darkness.

 _ **2018 Edit: Fixed Nora's Speech**_


	5. Begrudging Allies

Chapter 5: Begrudging Ally

Beast Boy couldn't believe it. Out of anyone that could have survived, out of the Doom Patrol, the Titans, anyone, it was Slade. The bastard who had manipulated Robin and Terra into becoming his apprentices, helped cause The End, and had a sick fascination with causing trouble for his friends?!  
"What troubles you? Unused to familiar faces?" The cold voice asked, and emerald eyes narrowed at the mask.

"You? You and I are the only ones left from our time? What kinda sick joke is this?!" He growled, trying to restrain his urge to tear out Slade's jugular, the feel of the Beast within almost overwhelming.

"Alas, it is no joke. We are the last evidence of Trigon's assault on Earth, naught but ruins are left otherwise." He clenched his fists as the villain spoke, his claws pressing tight enough against his palm to barely avoid drawing blood or tearing the gloves he wore.

"Why you? Out of everyone that lived one of the sickest and most manipulative bastards in the world is the only one that survived? I have the vague feeling you planned this." Beast Boy took a breath. As much as he wanted to kick this guy's ass, he didn't want to risk giving control to the Beast. As much as he hated Slade, he wouldn't let his darkness kill the villain, especially if it would also put Beacon and his new friends at risk.

"Planned? I am flattered you believe my abilities to be at this level, but rather disappointed that you are letting old grudges force you into assumptions."

"Old? I dunno about you dude, but I just showed up, the last thing I remember other than a few days ago was The End, when you worked with Trigon!" Slade nodded at the shouts.

"I see, so everything is still raw to you. I have been forced to stay on this Remnant of Earth for the many, many centuries, perhaps even millennia, that have passed since the Teen Titans forced back Trigon." Beast Boy sputtered at that. He knew everything was long gone, but centuries? Millennia?

"No one can live that long, you'd be long dead by now." Was all the Titan could think to say in response.

"Now Beast Boy, who said anything about living?" For the first time, Slade reached to remove his mask. What was beneath disgusted the changeling.

A skull, bleached white with age, without skin of any type. There was a red scar across the right eye hole, while the other held a crimson eye.

"What the hell are you?" He asked, gagging at just how crazy this was.

"Interesting choice of words." The skull let out a chuckle, which was akin to Slade's, but with a distinct bone rattling as he replaced the half copper mask. "This is a result of Terra's rebellion and volcanic activities. I was dead until I started working with Trigon. Now… I'm more."

"You died when Terra turned to stone? No wonder you dropped off the face of the Earth for a while." Beast Boy felt sick that there was a sense of pride in Terra within him now, taking out a major villain at the cost of herself. In his eyes that redeemed her, but the fact that the death of a human being (albiet, one he despised with every fiber of his being) didn't effect him was something else he would have to deal with later.

"Quite so. When my ex-apprentice and I went to find Raven, we separated. I went to find Death and reclaim my life."

"Death? The big dude with the scythe?"

"He was rather large and did utilize a scythe in battle, yes. I fought him, and even took his weapon, but before I could finish him off and open the Gates of Hell, the veil between our world and Trigon's was forced open, with myself becoming stuck in between. It was hell, my body knitting together and disintegrating at the same time until Death found me again. He found my pain delectable, but knew more could be done." Beast Boy shuddered at that, as if the skull wasn't bad enough.

"What else could he have done to you? That sounds pretty bad."

"Oh I agree, but this was much worse. He cast me back into our world, forcing me to remain in this shell Trigon had crafted out of bone and darkness, and forcing me to suffer all the pain and torment as the world began anew, trapped here and unable to eat sleep or leave. I felt those monsters being born, attacking humanity without abandon. I felt humans try and fight back, learning to use their inner strengths and create weapons out of the ashes of super powered beings. These feelings, of hopelessness and death, were my only company for millennia." Slade's voice for once showed an emotion that wasn't pride or arrogance or even rage. It seemed the bastard actually felt guilty for bringing on the apocalypse.

"It's a bit late to be showing remorse now you monster." Beast Boy growled, forcing down the Beast which wanted to crush the bleached skull of his enemy.

"I agree young changeling, I... have come to terms with the many things I have done in my bids for power, and they would now keep me up even if I was able to sleep. It seems feeling the collective negativity and suffering of humanity does wonders to fostering a conscience." He bowed his head, his exhaustion coming through his cold monotone.

"And to think dude, all it took was the end of the world for you to realize all the wrong you've done." Beast Boy replied scathingly.

"I… you are correct Beast Boy. I wish to make amends somehow, but am unable to, as I have been sealed here."

"Finally imprisoned for good. The irony must be killing you." Beast Boy crossed his arms, and Slade let out a dry chuckle deprived of all amusement.

"I wish young changeling. But there must be something I can do… Perhaps warn you about the Grimm? There is far more to them than you must realize."

"I know they have some kinda relation to Trigon. Its their eyes, like his and Raven's when she got mad." The changeling took that as a challenge, piping up with the feeling he had gotten when he had first seen the Nevermore.

"And? Such a large number of creatures, all with a connection to Trigon?" The villain asked patiently, his voice poking at the thoughts in BB's head, as if telling him to figure something out.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally realized just what Slade was trying to say, and the very idea chilled him even more than hearing the villain's voice again.

"He might use the Grimm to form a new portal." That was without a doubt the worst case scenario, but the worst part about it was that it was very likely. Trigon had managed to get to Earth when only Raven was there. With hordes upon hordes of these creatures he'd be able to return whenever he wanted!

"That is correct. Fortunately, he hasn't yet returned because of just how the Teen Titans forced him back. Whatever you five did to him, it has crippled an all powerful demon for millennia, and that is no small feat."

"Well… Rae broke the moon over his head." Beast Boy chuckled bittersweetly, recalling just how odd it had been to witness.

"That… would do the trick it seems. Grimm have always been ferocious beings, from what I have been forced to sense and from what I overhear of the people that stray too close to my prison, but it appears they are becoming even more so. I fear this is a sign of Trigon returning to strength."

"That'd be horrible... The whole reason the Titans survived his coming through the portal was because Rae divided up her power among us. Without it, we're doomed." He looked down, realizing it was very likely he'd be here to see the second end of the world.

"Did she ever take her power back?" Slade prompted, which made Beast Boy's eyes widen. When Robin had found her and she fought alongside them, she hadn't actually taken the power from them. It was possible she was waiting until after Trigon was defeated so they could still fight, or she had simply forgotten.

Reaching out with a gloved hand, Beast Boy focused. He tried to reign in his emotions and summon Raven's demonic magic. Even if he only held a fragment of her power, one fourth of such a powerful energy would definitely help.

A small spark of black energy appeared in his hand, and his spirits rose. He could do this! Focusing his enthusiasm and even more effort into his 'spell', the spark suddenly fell to the floor. Instead of fizzling out like he expected, it took a familiar shape: The Beast, though it was barely a foot tall. As soon as it appeared, Beast Boy forced the magic to dissipate, he wanted nothing to do with the Beast.

"Fascinating. It seems your abilities have adapted Raven's magic to suit you. It appears you can summon spectral animals." Slade commented, which made the changeling flinch, and the villain picked up on it. "What troubles you?"

"What are you talking about? I'm fine." He wouldn't let himself tell Slade about his emotional weakness, that would be spitting in the faces of the people he cared about!

"I disagree. Your posture is much more stiff than normal, which means you are currently in turmoil. Even if I wanted to use whatever is going on against you, which is not the case, I am in a position that is impossible." Slade had a point he grudgingly admitted, but that was all he let occur.

"I'm not letting you be my psychologist dude, especially after what you've done to us." To me he finished silently, the corruption of Terra having hit close to home as a personal attack, rather than just one against the Titans.

"You could just leave then, it isn't like I'm able to follow you. But I would take advantage of the aid I can offer, at least in training and psyche. Think of it as atonement for all I have done against the Titans." Slade offered, and it sickened Beast Boy that he was tempted. He wanted to cling to anything from his past life, and unfortunately that seemed to include Slade, albiet now seemingly remorseful for all he has done.

"Training? So I'd be another apprentice of yours?" Considering what had been done to Robin and Terra, this wasn't a bad theory.

"Not in the sense you are thinking. It appears you are the only hope for this world, and I have no doubt I will be forced to live through yet another apocalypse. Trigon's grip on this world is already nearly complete thanks to the Grimm, so we can assume he will arrive any day now. Our only option is to be ready for him, and since I can't do anything while I am here, you can."

Beast Boy had to think it over. It's true that Trigon returning would completely shatter every life on this planet. RWBY, JNPR, everyone would become stone and Earth would be Trigon's new playground.

As much as he hated Slade and the idea of working with him, it was far better than the alternative. And to save the world, he would need to deal with his mental instability. He wouldn't tell Slade everything, but the ex villain had a talent for getting into people's heads (as Robin could attest to), and that could prove useful.

"It's the Beast. For some reason it's gaining ground in my head." He said after a few minutes of silence, with the undead manipulator waiting patiently for the changeling's decision.

"The Beast? I take it that is a construct based upon all your form's instincts, most likely predatory in nature?" At the teen's nod, Slade continued. "That is bound to give you trouble, especially with the Grimm."

"Why's that? The Grimm are drawn to negativity, sure, but that's no reason why I shouldn't be able to fight them." He defended himself, though he recalled the dark voices he had been hearing, in both his nightmares and in any contact with Grimm.

"But you have more negativity than many people. You're literally a beacon for Trigon's creatures. You need to deal with the Beast, either become one with it or destroy it, so that you can focus on saving the world."

You know, no pressure or anything.

 **So this one was a while coming. Welcome to the official main plot of Changeling the Remnant! I wasn't sure if Raven actually ever took her magic back from the Titans during the End, but just in case, in this version she didn't. Hope you all enjoy it!**


	6. Beast Without Restraint

Chapter 6: Beast Without Restraint

"Maybe… Maybe I trust you. But how am I supposed to face off with the Beast? Or learn to use Rae's magic?" Everything seemed much easier said than done, especially the Beast.

Originally the Beast had merely been symbolic, but whatever those chemicals had been that he was doused in, they gave a form to all his restrained and predatory instincts. Now it was a part of him that always tried to gain control. Even now it tried to claw to the surface…

"I served beneath Trigon, and he is where Raven's powers come from, it shouldn't be difficult to associate what I learned with how her powers adapted to you. As for the Beast, is there a special way Raven used to maintain control over her demonic side?" That reminded Beast Boy of one of their earliest misadventures…

"She would use a mirror to enter her head and talk with her emotions. Cyborg and I fell into it once." He smiled with nostalgia, that had been the first time he and Raven had bonded, another being the Beast, and even before the End.

"Hm… I believe that was a special artifact allowing one to enter the mind of one it was synched to through a ritual. But you have the magic of someone whose mind has been a part of this connection, and you've been _inside_ a pocket dimension. That is two links right there, which means it might be possible for you to create this link, at least to your own mind, with any mirror." That sounded incredibly insane, but then again magic itself was asinine.

"I can't see how that would work. But you know more about magic than I do. Can you try explaining how I can do this?" He felt like an idiot, but he shook that off. Slade was willing to help him, and the world hung in the balance, he could make do with feeling like a buffoon.

"All you must do is extend your magic towards a mirror. That will open the portal and allow you to go through it. Once inside all you have to do is find the Beast. The next part is up to you, you could either destroy it or becoming one with it." That gave him yet another question the changeling realized.

"The Beast is a part of me. Won't killing it destroy part of my mind?" He knew the Beast, and the instincts it personified (or was it vilified?) were more a part of him than human nature, and he didn't know how he'd function without it.

"I doubt it. You have Raven's magic as an anchor to this reality, which means that even if you kill the Beast the chance you will end up self-lobotomized is very low."

"That's not very reassuring Slade…" Beast Boy's ears lowered. He needed to get rid of the Beast, without a doubt, but if he turned himself into a vegetable he wouldn't be able to save everyone from Trigon. "If I go into my head I won't be able to hold the Beast back. It will have full control until I leave. I need you to keep it here somehow. I don't care if you have to break my bones, I can _not_ leave your hideout while it's in control."

That was his only request. He had to take on the Beast, but that would leave his body up for the grabbing. The Beast may be a single personification, but it was the combined force of every single predatory instinct in his head, so there would be more than enough left over to take control while he was fighting it.

"I don't think that should be an issue Beast Boy. I can keep you here until you wake up, you have my word." Beast Boy scoffed at that, but sat in a lotus position.

"As if I'd trust it, but you're my only shot. Bring me a mirror and I'll try to do this…" He exhaled, trying to calm himself so that he could focus on his magic.

Slade seemed to understand what he was trying to do, recognizing it as a rudimentary form of meditation, and offered him a shard of reflective glass about the size of his hand.

Beast Boy focused his magic as he stared into the glass, reaching out with the sensation of power towards the reflective surface as his view became tunnelled, the last thing he saw before falling over were his pupils becoming slit before his eyes turned blank white.

He woke up and heard absolutely nothing. Opening his eyes he recognized where he was, although the last time he was here was years upon years ago.

He was in the Ivory Coast, Africa, where he had been infected by Sakutia.

"Dude…" He looked around at the jungle surrounding him, but then furrowed his brow as he saw downtown Jump City right next to it, about a city block away if he had to guess. He started walking towards it, and was surprised to feel Emerald Remembrance at his waist. The weapon had followed him into his mindscape, and that comforted him. It would help while fighting the Beast if he didn't have to shapeshift.

Once he made it to the city he climbed up an old fire escape, reaching the roof of the building and looking out at his mindscape.

It was a strange patchwork of urban sprawl and jungle, each area about a city block wide in a checkerboard pattern that disoriented him. What was even weirder was all the jungles. Not just the Ivory Coast, but Brazil, India, everywhere his parents had taken him when he was young was accounted for.

Shaking off the growing sense of nostalgia in him, he reached out with his senses to try and find the Beast. He began to hear something from nearby, but it wasn't big or loud enough to be the Beast. He slowly crept up on the noise, careful not to make a sound so he didn't reveal himself, but he gasped when he saw what had made the sound.

It was a young version of him, about 5 like when he had first gotten his powers. He was hiding behind a dumpster inside an alley, and wore what looked like a tattered Doom Patrol outfit.

He jumped down to land beside the version of him, his Aura protecting him from the shattered ankles such a maneuver would have caused if he was still relatively normal.

"!" The young changeling made a startled noise that made him sound like a squeaky toy, but the teen version held a gloved hand over his mouth.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm just looking for the Beast. Which of my emotions are you?" This emoticlone (If he could borrow the term from Rae) reminded him of Timid, but he wasn't really sure.

"P-prey…" The now named Prey whimpered as Beast Boy removed his hand, and he nodded. That made sense, if his predatory instincts had a personification, it seemed logical that the instincts of the animals that were prey had one as well.

"Prey. I need to find the Beast, or maybe Predator I guess would be his name. Could you help me?" Prey shook his head, but hastily began explaining as the changeling raised an eyebrow.

"Predator isn't the Beast. At least… Not all of it." Green eyes widened when he realized what may have happened. Predator, if that was its name, had fused with either demonic or Grimm influence, or it was combined with another of his emotions. Almost like how Raven's Rage had become Trigon through his prodding.

"I need to find him. Where is he normally?" He decided, since Prey wasn't going to help, maybe he'd at least point him in the right direction.

Prey looked outside the alleyway, but flinched and hid back behind the dumpster, shaking his head.

"Everywhere. Challenge him, he will appear. But don't do it here. I need to keep hiding, can't be seen." Beast Boy slowly backed away as Prey babbled, feeling slightly insulted that a part of him was so unhinged, while Raven's seemed fine.

As he left Prey behind, he felt relieved that he at least got to choose the battleground between him and the Beast. He felt like avoiding the jungles was a smart idea, since he was trying to distance himself from his bestial nature it only made sense. Plus, he would have the advantage in an urban environment.

He wandered across the checkerboard of jungle and city for a while, until he finally decided on an area that was far enough away from Prey.

"Beast! Come at me bro!" He shouted as loud as he could into the still and silent air, devoid of wind, scents, and sounds.

Suddenly he heard a rustling coming from the Brazilian rainforest to his left, and the Beast hurled itself out of the brush, letting loose a wild and untamed roar as he stared him down with blank white eyes.

He felt his throat close up a bit as he unsheathed both blades of Emerald Remembrance, gripping them tightly as they silently stared at each other. Finally, he said something.

"I… I won't let myself be ruled by you anymore!" He yelled, gathering his courage as he twirled the deep green blades Ruby had crafted for him.

This divide between his instincts and his humanity had been growing ever since the first Beast incident, and it had finally reached a boiling point here and now. He was finally able to do something about the predators inside him that constantly fought him for control.

But now, instead of pushing it down, he could finally fight back. Break what had tried to break him.

He let out an aggressive shout as he charged the Beast, twirling his weapons as he approached.

The Beast responded with a roar of its own as it lumbered to meet him halfway, the large claws glinting in the strange twilight the world was suddenly shrouded in.

The changeling ducked below a strike, raising Emerald Remembrance towards the Beast, but the manifestation of his instincts blocked it with claws that caused sparks to dance off the weapons.

The Beast used its superior strength and height to push down on him, and Beast Boy fell to his knees as the impassive blank eyes glared at him.

"I won't… Bow to you!" He shouted, using his Aura to increase the strength in his muscles and push the Beast back, the startled creature barely managing to catch itself, growling at the defiant shapeshifter.

Slade dodged a powerful strike, prodding the Beast with a bo staff. It hadn't taken long to take over, shapeshifting into the massive creature and making the ex villain realize just what he had signed up for.

This creature was powerful, fast, and unpredictable, switching strategies of fighting from quick weak attacks to slow strikes that were intensely powerful within the same flurry of blows.

He had to respect Beast Boy for dealing with such a creature inside of him for so long, it seemed powerful enough that it should have burst free long ago.

It appears he had underestimated Beast Boy way back when…

The changeling was thinking as he and his inner monster circled one another inside the empty version of Jump City. He could feel something was about to change. The blank eyes that had always signified the animals he could become were shifting, he could see something else in them as the Beast charged one last time: pleading. It wanted something from him.

He enhanced his legs with Aura, jumping over the charging Beast and lashing out with Emerald Remembrance, slicing at the shoulders of the creature as it roared in pain and anguish, falling over as the strike weakened it.

"What is it you want?" He asked, sheathing his blades and crouching to look at the creature up close, which growled weakly. The Beast closed its eyes, and when they opened they were glowing red, making Beast Boy jump backwards in shock as it stood back up, shrinking down with green fur falling to the floor in a pile.

" **Remember me?"** A voice that was his and yet wasn't asked as ash gray skin was revealed, Nega Beast Boy, the version of him created by Trigon, was here.

"H-how? Cyborg killed you, and Raven banished Trigon." He pulled Emerald Remembrance from their sheaths, ready for another fight.

" **I'm not that easy to get rid of. In fact, you'll find me harder to fight than that pathetic Beast Within…"** He raised his right arm, and made a gash across the back of his left hand with his sharp claws, doing the same with the right hand. Blood trailed over his fingers, and hardened into ruby points that were even more wicked and sharp than his normal claws. If that wasn't disturbing enough, a bone white mask that looked like a Beowolf's skull appeared over his face. " **Emerald Remembrance, only the inferior changeling could come up with something that pathetic. But why not give it a try? Hm… Blood's Thorns."** Nega laughed, a cold sound that made Beast Boy shudder, before it stalked closer, night falling inside the mindscape as the 'sun' set.

As darkness set in, Nega lunged, the bloody claws aiming towards him. He connected Emerald Remembrance into staff form, firing a blast of his Aura, which the demonic version of himself sliced apart with Blood's Thorns, still falling towards him.

Beast Boy fired shot after shot of Aura, all of which Nega sliced apart, until the green changeling started spinning the bladed staff as if it were a baton, the grey changeling using his claws to grab onto one of the blades and pull it down as he landed, tossing Beast Boy away.

The original detached the weapon into daggers, and dug the powerful blades into the asphalt, slowing him to a stop as he glared at Nega.

" **You're too stubborn. You have so much power, and you waste it protecting those too pathetic to save themselves."** It walked towards him, the smirk it wore beneath the Beowolf skull obvious to him despite being unable to see it. " **You could kill them all you know. You have the power."** Blood dripped from Nega's claws, forming teams RWBY and JNPR, all of whom had ash colored skin, glowing red eyes, and Grimm masks.

Ren and Nora, wearing strange black masks that looked like Beowolves, charged first, raising Stormflower and Magnhild respectively as Ren fired submachine gun fire and Nora charged in, swinging her warhammer.

He barely dodged Nora, Ren's bullets not doing much thanks to his Aura, Emerald Remembrance feeling heavy in his hands. He really didn't want to destroy these mental depictions of his friends, but they were attacking first, and it was easier considering the Grimm masks they wore and the red eyes, but it still tightened his throat as he evaded Magnhild and stabbed Nora in the heart.

" **Nora!"** Lei Ren's demonic counterpart shouted in an anguished voice that sounded like the normally calm teen's voice run through a distorter as he rushed forward, trying to slash at Beast Boy with the trench knife like weapons, only to meet the same fate as Nega Nora as he was headbutted, with ER impaling him in the chest.

Yang and Blake came next, Ember Celica and Gambol Shroud glinting as the duo wearing Ursa masks charged in next. The whiplike weapon Blake used attempting to wrap around him, or at least distract him as Yang moved in for a punch.

He ran alongside the ribbon, slicing it with Emerald Remembrance as he got close enough for Blake to try and use her blade. He kicked her in the stomach, launching her into Yang with enough force that Ember Celica was activated, the explosive round loaded inside it sending the ninja like girl flying into a building. She didn't get back up.

Yang's hair seemed to set on fire at this point, the brawler now moving much faster and firing round after round after him, all of which he contorted around, thankful that there wasn't all that much spread to her shells up close, he REALLY didn't want to find out what would happen if he got mangled inside his head.

Soon Ruby's older sister had been cuffed upside the head by the hilt of Emerald Remembrance and she crumpled to the floor, with Jaune and Pyrrha hopping into the fight next. Crocea Mors and Milo aimed at him while evil eyes glared from beneath Deathstalker masks.

Jaune was incompetent, swinging the blade with no rhyme or reason until the changeling cracked his head over the nameless shield/sheath, throwing him at Pyrrha, who converted Milo into rifle form and dodged Jaune, firing Dust at Beast Boy. It was harder to gauge these than Ember Celica's shots, so his Aura took a few hits, and he could feel himself growing tired. The battle was straining him, and he was thankful that for some reason they were waiting their turn for a pummeling as he whipped ER at Pyrrha, impacting her right in the heart.

As he charged towards the warrior Ruby and Weiss jumped into action, wearing Nevermore masks as Myrtenaster and Crescent Rose fired Dust at him. He pulled the blade out of the final member of JNPR just in time to avoid a wall of ice summoned by the Ice Queen, which cornered him into an area where Ruby fired off a high impact sniper shot, spinning into a maelstrom and using her Semblance to increase speed even more until she was a tornado of red, black, rose petals, and blades. He leaped up above her, kicking off a building and switching ER to 'bow mode' and firing several shots of his Aura at her, the orbs of green energy breaking through the attempted shield of ice she made, creating an unstable surface of explosions that left nothing remaining but a bloody Nevermore mask.

Ruby, still spinning like a tempest, somehow exerted enough control over her spin to end up in his trajectory. He gulped and started spinning his staff in the opposite direction of the final member of his friends, their weapons clashing.

His spin hadn't been nearly as rapid as hers, but it jarred her and ended up stabbing her through the stomach. They fell to the ground, and as if the whole situation wasn't enough, suddenly the eyes he could see beneath the Nevermore mask flashed to silver, no longer evil as her skin grew color from ashen to pale.

" **Why…** Beast Boy?" She asked, the distorted voice becoming her own as she coughed up blood, and the light in her silver eyes faded.

" **Look at what you've done, you struck them all down in cold blood."** Nega smirked as Beast Boy kneeled next to Ruby's corpse, dropping Emerald Remembrance on either side of her. " **You have truly become a Beast. Now all you need to do is prove you can do this in reality instead of just a dream…"**

"You know, I'm sick and tired of having a voice in my head telling me what to do." He took the Nevermore mask off of Ruby and closed her silver eyes before glaring at the masked and demonic version of himself. He stood up, leaving ER next to Ruby along with Crescent Rose.

" **Then why don't you kill me like you did the Beast?"** It asked, smirking as Beast Boy faced him, clenching his clawed fists as realization came to him.

"I… I understand now. It's not dead. And even if I could kill it, I shouldn't. It's a part of me, one that's a huge pain. But one I need to accept. It has never wanted to hurt someone I care about, it's been you and the Grimm this whole time." He recalled what Raven had told him, how the Beast had protected her. And he remembered the Beast coming to the surface again during the End, fighting to protect Raven once more from Slade and the fire spirits.

The Beast wasn't a predator, at least not fully. It was a protector, manipulated to make it seem like the enemy, and he had fallen for it hook line and sinker. He had almost killed one of his greatest assets and, without the instincts, he may have become one of Trigon's pawns.

" **Bravo. Raven would be impressed, oh wait, she can't be. She's** _ **dead**_ **."** Nega smirked. The small bit of Trigon inside the changeling taunted the green elf, and he growled at the demonic shard.

"She may be gone, but I'll always have a part of her." He focused the magic she had gifted him, summoning a black shadow of the Beast. Unlike the first, this was its full height of nine feet. To his surprise, the actual Beast limped to flank his other side, nature and magic tag teaming with him against the demonic entity.

The following was… well, a clusterfuck really. Nega had not expected one Beast, much less two, and he was clawed to shreds by the creations of magic and chemicals. The last that was left of the dark clone of BB were the weaponized claws, glinting blood red in the moonlight. He looked at them for a moment, before turning to the corpse of Ruby and sighing exhaustedly. He crouched down and picked up Blood's Thorns, offering them to the Beast. It looked startled, but allowed him to fit the clawed gauntlets over its massive hands, the strange alloy resizing to fit.

"From here on, I'll be sure to call you if I need you. Just make sure you don't let any of my friends get hurt. Help me protect them as if they were Raven herself, okay?" He asked the Beast, smiling toothily as it nodded gruffly at him. His instincts would still boil close to the surface, but it was unlikely that the Beast would actually try and break him like Nega had. "I need to go, but something tells me I'll see you real soon." He waved before closing his emerald eyes and focusing Raven's magic, trying to find his way out of his head…

When Beast Boy opened his eyes again, he found himself inside a dojo that looked like a tornado had challenged an earthquake to a breakdancing contest. Everything was torn apart, and he could see moonlight glinting through a new hole in the ceiling.

How long had he been out?

"Slade?" He asked, looking around for the ex villain. He couldn't see him, but apparently he couldn't leave.

"Next time you ask me to hold off the deadly combination of all your predatory instincts…" A voice gasped from beneath a pile of rubble, revealing that he was mostly unharmed, other than several nicks in his armor and four large gashes down the front that revealed his ribcage. "Don't."


	7. The Jaune Arc Part 1

Chapter 7: The Jaune Arc Part 1

Beast Boy spent the night trying to help Slade repair his dojo/prison, before finally crashing on the tatami mat and falling asleep. The nightmares came again, but oddly enough they didn't show him killing his friends again. Instead, they showed something far more real…

 _He was sitting with RWBY and JNPR in the Great Hall, laughing about whatever it was Nora was rambling on with now (Something about sloths…). Before he could open his mouth, possibly to tease the bomber, possibly to start a bad pun war with the blonde brawler sitting next to him, he was met by total silence. Looking up from his plate of tofu he was shocked to see them all staring at him with blank expressions, before their eyes were covered in the red glow of Trigon._

" _ **I creep into the darkest of thoughts changeling. If I could affect you, who holds my daughter's strength, who is to say your precious friends will not meet the same fate?"**_ _They asked in unison, their voices overlayed by Trigon and his menacing icy laugh._

He woke up with such force he sat up so fast it would color anyone impressed, and tried to calm himself by taking deep breaths, only to feel his stomach growl as he realized he hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before, having run out of lunch the day before without a bite to eat.

He seriously regretted letting his emotions rule him so much.

Beast Boy shook his head before leaving, a silent nod of acknowledgement to the still working Slade to let him know that yes, he would be back eventually, but first he had to find his way back to Beacon and get some grub.

And let his friends know he wasn't eaten by a Grimm, that too.

He used his Aura to speed himself up, and it wasn't long until he found himself at the end of the forest, approaching Beacon's 'Great Hall'.

To his amusement and slight guilt RWBY and JNPR looked almost fast asleep in their respective breakfasts as he walked in, though Jaune looked pensive and Nora looked livid.

"What do you expect to do? He just won't stop bugging me, it's no big deal." The inept blonde replied to something someone had said before Beast Boy was in hearing range, as if it were the hundredth time he had repeated himself.

"WE'LL BREAK HIS LEGS!" For once Nora was completely understandable, possibly because she hadn't yet eaten the massive stack of sugary pancakes overflowing her plate.

"Who's legs we breaking and why?" He asks as he sits down in the open seat next to Ruby, the reaper and everyone else jumping in surprise as they hear him.

"Just Cardin Winchester, don't worry about it Beast Boy… Beast Boy!" Jaune finally realized why everyone else jumped, the delayed reaction making the changeling chuckle.

"You guys miss me?" He asks, and raises an eyebrow when he sees Nora and Yang flinch, before idly recalling the fact that the duo had been what launched him into the Emerald Forest. "Don't worry about it you two, I'm fine." He smiled, but inwardly he scanned his friends, trying to find a way Trigon could slip through their cracks.

Ruby. She was an innocent soul, very similar to Starfire (Just replace mustard with cookies), but if Trigon threatened Yang or any of the others Ruby may join him to keep others safe…

Weiss. She had a chip on her shoulder and Beast Boy could bet she had a troubled past, and may take an offer depending on how Trigon worded it. She reminded BB of Robin now that he thought about it.

Blake was even more mysterious, but she was haunted by something she had done, and seemed to dislike how Weiss was so rude to him for no reason, maybe she would do something to get rid of bias. Not to mention she was a bookworm and a recluse, which would draw comparisons to Raven...

Yang. Bold and brash, she would without a doubt sign a deal with the devil to keep her little sis innocent and okay. Pretty much Cyborg, but quicker to violence.

Jaune was a lot like him, hiding something behind a goofy exterior, a checkered past that may be exploited by the demon.

Pyrrha, she seemed to be a 'perfect' warrior, but she was lonely, and had some pride to her from what he had seen.

Nora and Ren seemed relatively safe, but Trigon may threaten one or the other and get them both wrapped around his fingers.

After a while he shook his thoughts off. He couldn't protect them from the voices in their heads, but he could trust them not to fall for anything Trigon said.

"Stop it, it hurts!" A girl shouted in a distinct British accent, making Beast Boy turn to investigate.

A large teen was pulling on the rabbit ears of a girl, sneering. He couldn't stand for that, so he got to his feet and sent a _very_ powerful glare at the muscle-bound and armored guy, channeling a bit of the Beast.

"Excuse me, you seem to be causing her some trouble. I suggest you stop before I make you." His voice was a distinct shift from the norm, cold and threatening.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it you green Faunus loving freak?" The idiot, who seemed so stupid that he was unusually immune to Killer Intent, almost growled at the changeling.

"First off, you shouldn't use your whole vocabulary in one insult brainiac. And second, I don't know what a Faunus is, but I know you can't treat someone differently just because they're different. And third off, you _really_ want to know what I can do to you?" The towering figure let go of the apparent Faunus, and she took off as a small crowd gathered.

"The name's Cardin Winchester String Bean, and you'll regret messing with the leader of team CRDL!" He slammed a fist into an open palm, trying to intimidate the shorter and skinnier Hunter in training.

"Cardin huh? You're the guy picking on Jaune Arc? I can't say I'm fond of bullies..." He could almost feel Pyrrha's gaze increase in strength staring through his head, but he ignored it in favor of blanking his eyes, as if he were in an animal form.

"Oh yeah? Bring it then!" Cardin raised a hand, giving a 'bring it on' gesture, once again ignoring the warning sign of his imminent beatdown, and everyone was waiting with bated breath to see what would happen.

No one expected Beast Boy to slam a plate of pancakes against Cardin's face, chuckling all the while as the entire gathered area facefaulted and/or sweatdropped.

"Don't mess with anyone else, or next time, I'll try my new weapons out." There was a powerful gust of wind and Ruby was at his side, silver eyes glowing with excitement, and a slight bit of confusion?

"New weapon? You didn't get rid of the one I made for you did you?" She pouted a bit, but immediately brightened when he showed her he still had Emerald Remembrance safe and sound.

"Nope, they're alright. I just dealt with a few… Inner demons last night and came out with some new powers." He focused on the mental image he had of Blood's Thorns, the savage ruby red claws that Nega BB had used during their fight, and his magic suddenly went off on its own accord.

Emerald Remembrance seemed to almost 'melt' into green goop, each of the blades coating one of his hands and deepening to a shade of crimson even deeper than either namesake of the reaper who watched with awe as the claws were completely formed, green fire intermittent with black beginning to flow off of him as he focused his powers, obviously his Aura fused with Raven's magic.

Cardin, obviously, made himself scarce after this.

"That's so cool!... How did you do that?" Ruby asked, grabbing one of his hands carefully so she didn't cut herself, her eyes pretty much replaced by stars.

"I don't really know, it's just one of the new tricks I picked up last night." He shrugged, knowing it had to do with the magic inside him, but he wanted to keep his friends in the dark about Trigon and everything that may be happening.

Huh, he sounded a lot like Raven…

"Ripping off Ember Celica Greenie?" Yang asked, looking over the clawed gauntlets that had replaced the green blades.

"You wish blondie." He smirked a bit, filing away his worries as he noticed Jaune beating a retreat, with Pyrrha close behind. He wondered what that was about as Ruby glared at her sister.

"What?" Yang asked, unused to seeing a serious expression on the reaper.

"Are you gonna apologize for punching him into the Emerald Forest?" The brawler grinned, and Ruby's face all of a sudden matched her name.

"Oh, my mistake. I'm sorry to interrupt your surprise makeout session before it began Rubes." Beast Boy's face turned maroon as he recalled the compromising position he had landed in on top of Ruby the day before.

"I just landed on her! Nora launched me with that goddamn hammer of hers!" The bomber blushed as everyone's gaze turned to her.

"Well he was being all mopey and I thought I would try and help out so I brought Rennie and he thought we were together even though I definitely told him we were not together-together!" She paused for a breath (And several pancakes), "So of course I had to hit him with Maghnild it only made sense since I had to shut him up somehow and it's obvious that I don't like Rennie in that way!" Everyone turned to Ren to translate.

"We found Beast Boy after he ran off, and went to see what was wrong. Nora assumed it had something to do with Ruby cuddling with Crescent Rose, and Beast Boy responded by teasing her about possibly having… romantic interest in me. Due to that, she sent him flying, I'm assuming into Ruby and Yang, who then launched him into the Emerald Forest." It took until then for Beast Boy to realize just how weird the past 24 hours have been, and that's compared to waking up after being dead for at least one thousand years!

"So… You _didn't_ try corrupting my little sis?" Yang asked sheepishly, making Ruby blush even more, pulling up her hood and trying to hide beneath it.

"Yaaaaaang!" She cried out in embarrassment, trying to make herself seem even smaller.

"It was a complete accident, I had no control over my trajectory." Beast Boy raised his right hand in a 'Scout Sign', but everyone looked at him strangely so he sheepishly grinned and put it back down.

"Wow sis, sounds like he was _attracted_ to you!" Groans rang out among the gathered group Hunters in training as Yang let out another horrible pun, Ruby curled up inside her cloak so much she could barely be seen.

"Been a _Xiao Long_ time since I heard a joke that good blondie." Beast Boy chuckled, but was slapped over the head by an irate heiress.

"I do _not_ need to hear this utter nonsense this early in the morning! My teammates had already decided to go looking for you after our meal" Weiss sent him a menacing glare, but Beast Boy laughed it off.

"Aw, Ice Queen, I didn't know you cared!" He teased the princess of Schnee Dust Company, whose scowl was now flooded with a bit of red.

"That's nonsense! I cannot stand you! You are just a member of our team as well as JNPR, it would be inefficient to have you missing for so long." With the obvious exception of Weiss, everyone still present gave the Schnee heiress a glance that obviously said 'Sure'. "It's true! I can barely deal with Yang, but she isn't the one who formed the White Fang's radicalist movement!"

"I did what?!"

[Scene Change]

He was sick and tired of being kicked around, playing second fiddle to _her_ time and time again. He couldn't be blamed, sure he hasn't exactly gotten here through the purist means, but they didn't need to know about that.

 _ **What if I told you I could give you what you seek, in exchange for your obedience?**_ A voice, powerful and incredibly dangerous, echoed through his head, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't immediately tempted.

"What do you mean? How can you help me?" He whispered, making sure the certainly nearby female didn't hear him.

 _ **I have strength that far exceeds hers, and I would be willing to give you some if you simply follow my commands.**_

"W-who are you? Why should I trust you?" He asked shakily, wondering if he was imagining this conversation.

 _ **I highly doubt you should trust me, but all I need is your loyalty. That is all I ask, and in exchange you will have more power than any other being on this pathetic planet.**_

"... Do what you must." He knew this was a deal with the devil, but he oh so desired to truly make a name for himself.

Suddenly he felt a powerful burning on his forehead, and his Aura reserves growing even more as his eyes flashed a dangerous crimson, the symbol of Trigon hidden by his long hair before they returned to their normal color.

 _ **2018 Edit: Fixed Nora's Speech, made the scene change at the end more obvious**_


	8. The Jaune Arc Part 2

Chapter 8: The Jaune Arc Part 2

Beast Boy rubbed his temples as Blake stonily told him about the Faunus, the race that apparently he had helped create, and the White Fang, the rights activists turned terrorist group.

As if an all powerful demon wasn't enough to worry about, now there were racists and terrorists.

And even better, Blake seemed to know a _lot_ about this, more than anyone else but Weiss, but the Ice Queen's place was explained by her family and company, which often used Faunus labor. Blake was an unknown at this point, but fortunately it seemed like Weiss was annoyed enough at the changeling to not argue with Blake defending the White Fang's past.

"So where do I fall in all this?" He finally spoke up, the onslaught of exposition more than he expected to deal with the minute he got back from kicking Nega's ass.

"Well, you're supposed to be the Master of Beasts, who created the Faunus. The White Fang may be why you suddenly popped up in the Emerald Forest. Either way, you need to be careful. They probably want you as an ally, but that could change in an instant, and the Schnee Dust Company is sure to want you dead." And now he was in the center of pretty much a civil war. Yay.

"Great, this is great, its perfect! Why _not_ have a freaking multi-billion dollar company and a terrorist organization both want me dead?!" He asked, waving his arms frantically, which would have been amusing to the others if it weren't such a serious situation.

"Oh calm down Beast Boy. We'll protect you!" Ruby tried making a heroic pose, but had underestimated just how tangled her cloak had gotten from hiding beneath it, so she fell backwards onto the floor, thus disarming the tension in one fell swoop.

"Yeah we won't let the meanies beat up one of our best friends, instead we'll break their legs because lets face it I really wanna break someone's legs and since you scared Cardin it'll have to be someone else." Nora spoke up at speeds similar to a motorboat, raising an impaled pancake into the air dramatically before eating it at a still unbelievable speed.

"While I do agree with Nora and Ruby, maybe we should get to class? We have Oobleck next." Ren pointed out, and Beast Boy realized that he had arrived midway through breakfast, and the exposition dump had taken most of the time he had left, so he grabbed some toast, ate it, and followed Ren.

Barely a moment later, Beast Boy realized he made a mistake thinking that Beacon had showed him its weirdest secrets already, as a green haired teacher ("Doctor!") seemingly teleported across the room, sipping what must be the most powerful coffee on the face of Remnant, and speaking so fast about the Faunus wars that even Nora and Ren were becoming lost.

"TheracismtowardsallFaunusissimplyawful,awfulItellyou! Now,doesanyoneknowwhytheFaunuswonwhatmayhavebeenoneoftheturningpointsforhumansinthiswar?" He asked, eyes with incredibly dilated pupils travelling over every student in the lecture sized class with expert speed and precision until he finally halted on Beast Boy, who groaned internally.

Why did every teacher seem intent on putting him on the spot?

"BeastBoywasit? WhatdoyouthinkgavetheFaunusadistinctadvantageoverhumans?" He asked the teenage changeling. He looked around, finally seeing Pyrrha and Jaune had arrived, the knight with his head on the desk, and the redheaded champion was gesturing towards her eyes. Thinking he had it, he nodded.

"Well, I think it was their enhanced senses. Taste, touch, smell, hearing, vision, I assume they are all much stronger than those of a human." Pyrrha gave him a subtle thumbs up as Oobleck nodded almost frantically.

"QuiterightyoungonethosewhoareFaunusoftenhaveenhancedsensesinthiscasenightvisionofcourse!"

The crazy professor ("Doctor!") assigned them a six page essay on the fallout of the Faunus War, having covered the entire thing within the first ten minutes of the forty-five minute class period, therefore they had some time to get started in theory, though really most of them were frazzled from the experience. Especially Beast Boy.

Mix Nora, Starfire, Kid Flash, Ruby, over a gallon of ungodly caffeinated coffee, energy drink, and soda, and you still had less energy than that teacher!

"Dear Oum… Why?" Ren whispered under his breath, receiving a sympathetic pat from the bomber sitting next to him, even she was lost.

"That… What did he even say?" Beast Boy asked, looking over and facepalming when he saw that Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss, although incredibly frazzled, had somehow managed to write down some notes.

Fortunately, Beast Boy was a master of bullshit.

Cracking his knuckles he began to get to work, his writings influenced by what he had vaguely heard from Oobleck, the discussion at breakfast about the White Fang, and even what he recalled from his time in Jump City, where he was sometimes treated by the populace as a mascot or pet rather than a hero who risked his life for them.

It wasn't until Ruby poked him in the head that he looked up, to see both RWBY and JNPR looking at him in shock.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" He asked, reaching up with his right hand to check and wincing when he felt it cramp. Looking down, he saw the decently sized pile of papers he'd been writing on automatic. "Dude… How'd I do that?"

"It appears you may be less dim than I expected." Weiss spoke through gritted teeth, and he saw her essay was only a third the size of his… Somehow.

If Raven were still here, she would have called total bull at this nonsense.

Except it wasn't nonsense. The writing wasn't nearly as clean or most likely as concise as Weiss', but his brain just went on autopilot, something about this Faunus racism resonated within him, and he felt weird as Blake sent him an approving look, making him think that he had done something that piqued the Raven like Huntress' interest.

"It's time for Goodwitch's class." Ren coughed, the first to regain the use of his brain, having become used to the impossible since he had been friends with Nora for so long.

"Come on Rennie, we don't wanna be late!" Nora, now understandable as Oobleck had spoken even faster, grabbed her black haired partner and started making her way to the next class, the rest shrugging and grabbing their supplies.

Beast Boy slammed his head into a wall when he saw the combat arena.

Of _course_ , that just freaking figured! If Glynda freaking Goodwitch put him on the spot and made him spar with someone, he would seriously regret coming back on a Friday.

The first match was Jaune and Cardin, and Beast Boy was lucky he had shifted Blood's Thorns back into Emerald Remembrance, because his natural claws were strong, but not enough to break the material of his gloves thankfully.

Jaune seemed to be in an impeccably poor mood, which only increased as the mace wielder wiped the floor with the knight, whose Aura dropped to red at a ridiculous speed.

"It seems we still have time for one more spar. Any volunteers?" Goodwitch asked, and Beast Boy trailed into thought. Why do they need to learn how to fight other Hunters? The big thing is Grimm, as shown by the Boarbatusk Professor Port had brought to class the previous day.

It hit him that one of the reasons may be the White Fang, just as the analytical eyes of Goodwitch fell on him.

"How about our unofficial new student? Unlike you all, he has yet to prove himself. Mr. Beast Boy, did you go to a four year academy such as Signal?"

"No, but-"

"Have you created your own weapon?"

"No-"

"How many missions have you been on?"

"I haven't-"

This was completely unfair, but he couldn't deny what she said. Ruby had only completed two years at Signal, but that was two years more than he had done. He helped fight the Nevermore, but other than that and threatening Cardin, he hadn't really done anything to prove himself, at least that he could prove.

"Okay, I guess pick someone for me to go up against Prof, I'm good with whoever." He shrugged nonchalantly, heaving himself over the desk and heading into the combat arena, not even bothering to ask to change out of his uniform and into his outfit. It wasn't like his jumpsuit offered him more protection or anything after all.

"Any volunteers?" Now that he was up close, he saw he may have misjudged the combat instructor. She looked incredibly tired, and considering how he had previously seen her with Ozpin, it wasn't hard to put two and two together.

Every member of RWBY and JNPR, par Jaune, raised their hands.

Ruby seemed to really want to see his weapons in action and see how he'd use them.

Weiss looked like she wanted to kick his ass.

Blake was merely curious, and he felt her amber eyes focus on him for whatever reason.

Yang was practically bouncing up and down in her seat, a gleam in her lilac eyes.

Jaune was taking deep breaths to recharge his Aura, but was looking at him with pure detirmination

Nora _was_ bouncing up and down, each bounce punctuated with a 'pick me!'

Pyrrha looked to Jaune with concern, but focused a confident smile as she let the challenge be known.

Ren had a smirk on his face, as if he was amused by what had happened.

Sometimes Beast Boy _really_ hated his luck.

It seemed Glynda Goodwitch hadn't expected two whole teams in training to volunteer themselves, since her eyes had widened slightly behind her glasses.

"Yang Xiao Long, gather your weapon and outfit and be down here immediately."

Aaaand all the better. He flashbacked to his fight with Nega RWBY and JNPR, and how Trigon's influence had manipulated his fight with Ruby while inside his head, making him feel like he had killed the real one rather than the fakes everyone else had been. He did _not_ want to fight Yang, not after he had 'killed' her sister. But he could do this. She was a brawler, if he kept out of her range and avoided her shotgun shots, he should be fine to take her on.

She jumped down from her seat, exactly as Beast Boy did, adjusting the golden bracelets until they became Ember Celica's familiar gauntlet shape.

Or maybe he'd be fighting arguably the most badass of them all.

"Sync your scrolls to the screen." Beast Boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the multi-purpose Dust powered machine, activating it and watching his Aura and Yang's appear on the screen in a health bar type thing.

So he was in a fighting game now? Okay, that was freaking awesome!

"First one in the red loses… Begin!" Goodwitch created a shield around the combat arena, just in time as Yang experimentally fired a shot at him, which he avoided by leaping back, trying to strategize. He could use Emerald Remembrance in any of its uses, or shift it into Blood's Thorns, or even shift himself!

Deciding on what he was best at, Beast Boy turned himself into a peregrine falcon much to the shock of everyone in the classroom, and began flying around to avoid Yang's shots before swooping in.

"Not the hair!" She raised her fists in a defensive stance, an attempt to protect either her golden hair or her face.

Instead of clawing at her as she expected, he shifted into a Sasquatch right before he impacted her, the weight and speed behind the blow to her stomach sent her flying to crash against the barrier. Feeling pain, he looked at his fist and was shocked to see Blood's Thorns digging into his palm.

He looked up to check their Aura levels, his barely down by the scratch he gave himself, while Yang's was approaching 80%.

"Okay, so we're playing it like that?" Her lilac eyes flashed crimson, and she slammed her fists together, creating a small shockwave before she ran at him. Shifting back into his elfin form he ducked below her haymaker, not expecting the knee she threw out to hit him to impact his solar plexus.

He turned his flight into a roll and he looked at Yang in shock. He knew she could hit hard, but that felt like a truck!

"Anytime you hit me, I can hit you back with much more strength." She grinned, and BB realized that he had just slammed her with all the force of a flying Bigfoot.

Okay, so somehow avoid hitting her full force, but drain her Aura enough to win. Wait, did she absorb energy in general, or just the physical behind his punch? What did Raven call it? Kinetic?  
If it was the former, he'd have to really think. But if it was the latter…

Putting Emerald Remembrance in its bow form, he fired a shot of his green Aura at the blonde brawler, who batted it aside.

"C'mon Beastie, that the best you got? Try it again at full strength." She winked, giving him a 'Come on' gesture.

"See… I know you're playing me. But let's give it a try." This time, when he pulled back the 'string' and summoned the small orb of his inner strength, he let it sit, focusing his strength into it.

To his surprise, the more Aura he poured into it, the more the sphere began to look like a green sun, scaled down to a massive yoga ball that was barely contained, small 'sunspots' looking ready to burst.

His eyes trailed to the screen, ignoring the gaping looks from his classmates as he saw his Aura slowly reaching near Yang's in level. Now he just had to fire it off without her dodging… That's it!

His eyes flashed white as he channeled Raven's magic, shifting his 'bow' into Blood's Thorn and pressing down on the powerful Aura ball until it fit in his hands, which he cocked behind him in a pose recognizable only to him.

He had always wanted to do this…

"Ka...Me...Ha...Me...Ha!" He pushed his hands out in front of him, and the orb of Aura became a beam, different from the iconic skill in color alone, a deep green rather than the light blue that was akin to it.

Yang crossed her gauntlets in front of her, hoping to absorb the pure Aura assault, or at least deflect/block it. Instead, she was pushed against the force field, her Aura slowly going down from what he could tell until finally his Kamehameha died down. Yang's Aura was in the yellow now, hovering somewhere around 40%.

"Holy Oum, that hit hard…" Yang seemed outright shocked, and reaching with his aura slightly, he saw, or felt rather, that she hadn't absorbed much strength from his attack. So it _was_ only kinetic energy. If he relied on his Aura to deal blows, he could finish this fight without putting himself in even more danger.

Wait… Was her hair on fire? And why were her eyes red?

The punch surprised him, Yang moving so fast she left a stream of fire behind her, hitting dead across his face and launching him until he crashed against the far wall.

"Okay, guess you and Ruby can both be pretty darn fast." He chuckled, feeling like Professor Goodwitch would kill him (Or at least use that nasty looking riding crop of hers) if he ended up cursing. Or Yang would if he corrupted Ruby's hearing…

"Either way, I won't fall for that Kame whatever this time. We'll see if you can get lucky again!" She ran at him and started a barrage, which Beast Boy avoided by leaping over her.

Hold up. If the Kamehameha worked, and he could use Aura without charging her Semblance…

He clenched his fist as if he was holding a ball inside it, focusing his Aura into his palm in another iconic move from an anime. Just like the previous, it was a deep green instead of light blue, but unlike the previous attack, it only drained his Aura by about 5%. He only needed to take Yang's down about 15 more after all, and he didn't want to overdo it.

"I won't let you try that again!" She growled, eyes alight even more as she rushed back into close combat. Beast Boy let his Aura flow, focusing most of it into his right hand and allowing Blood's Thorn to maintain it and begin to swirl it, a dark green whirlpool of incredible energy.

"Rasengan!" He shouted the name of the borrowed technique, drilling into the Aura surrounding Yang's stomach before it burst and sent her flying, yet again into the force field, her energy dropping, just barely into the red.

"Winner… Beast Boy…" He didn't need to look to tell that Professor Goodwitch was shocked, as was everyone else (Many having labeled Yang as one of the strongest first year students already), before he used Raven's magic to return his weapon to normal, going over to offer the blonde brawler a hand up. Retracting the Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets, she took it with a smile , allowing herself to be pulled up.

"That was interesting. Never thought you'd be adding all sorts of ranged attacks to the weapon Rubes made ya. What were those anyway?" Before Beast Boy could answer, Glynda Goodwitch spoke up.

"Blasts of pure Aura, using the weapon young Miss Rose created for him as a conduit, and thus enhancing the already seemingly amazing power he has over his Aura." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, pretty much. Those attacks I used came from shows I used to watch. Always wanted to use them, but never had Aura before." It was kinda funny using those powers, ones he had always pretended he could use much to Mento's and Robin's annoyance. It almost felt like he was honoring his friends by using the powers he had always jokingly used on them.

"Still impressive. Be prepared, tomorrow we will be going to the forest of Forever Fall in order to collect some sap and gain experience fighting Grimm." Ms. Goodwitch nodded in response to what he said, before leaving the suddenly panicked changeling.

He may be more capable of actually fighting without the thoughts in his head, and the Beast wasn't fighting him anymore, but he had no idea how he would deal with creatures of Grimm considering the last one he fought had caused him to almost break down.

At least he could make Dragonball Z and Naruto jokes without being considered even weirder than usual. As the person he just kicked the crap out of would say, 'that was a thing'.

 _ **2018 Edit: Fixed Nora's Speech**_


	9. The Jaune Arc Part 3

Chapter 9: The Jaune Arc Part 3

The rest of the day- thankfully, somehow- managed to pass without incident, and Beast Boy crashed in JNPR's room yet again. Jaune had talked to Ruby about something or another before coming into the room deep in thought, but the changeling tuned it out in an effort not to make it his business.

So now they (RWBY, JNPR, and team CRDN, plus one Beast Boy) were on their way to the forest of Forever Fall. Jaune, the poor bastard, suffered from airsickness, and was for some reason sitting next to Cardin Winchester.

He would feel a bit more sympathetic if the blonde knight wasn't giving him a stink eye even as his face turned several interesting shades of green that impressed him.

He turned to the other half of the Bullhead, where he sat with RWBY and NPR. Ruby and Pyrrha were looking at Jaune in concern, Blake was reading, Weiss was giving Beast Boy the exact same stink eye Jaune was, Nora was trying to catch Ren's attention about sap or something, and Yang seemed deep in thought.

Thirteen teenagers armed to the teeth on their way to a forest filled with a demonic vanguard. What could possibly go wrong?

"I approve!" Yang suddenly spoke up, elbowing Beast Boy. "You have my permission to date Rubes Greenie!"

Huh. That was… unexpected to say the least.

"Yaaaaaaang!" Ruby pulled her hood over her face, and then for good measure pulling Blake in between them, who was completely ignoring the events surrounding her.

"What?" He couldn't help but deadpan, wondering what had brought this on, and why on Remnant yet another person decided he liked Ruby!

"Well, you're her age for one, that instantly makes you a better choice than anyone else. And come on, who better to protect my little sis than someone who can beat me in a fight?" She asked with a laugh, before her eyes flashed crimson. "Seriously though, break her heart and I break you."

" I knew it! Oh this is so romantic! Rennie, Beast Boy and Ruby are dating!" Nora shouted, shaking Ren out of his attempted relaxation time to see a maroon changeling and a reaper hidden in a cloak that matched her face and name in color. He simply shrugged and looked to Blake, who was twitching for some reason.

"Pay up." The catlike ninja girl sighed and tossed some Lien at the calmest member of JNPR, who caught it with a smirk.

"Wait… First off I'm not even dating Ruby! And second off, you took bets on who I'd date?" He asked, making Ren facepalm and toss the Lien back to Blake, who now seemed rather pleased.

"Are you saying my baby sister isn't good enough for you?" Yang asked with a glare, luckily lilac.

"Yaaaaaaaang!" Ruby was cradling Crescent Rose at this point, still hiding behind Blake.

Why the hell was she hiding? He was the one in danger of Yang trying to kick the crap outta him!

He couldn't speak, in all honesty he had no idea what was going on, and all he could let out was a nervous stammer. It seemed to do the trick though, since Yang pulled him in and gave him a noogie.

"I'm just messing with ya Greenie! Ruby's too young to date!" She laughed, as did he, though his was more nervous, before she let go of his neck.

He may have beat her in that spar, but he was still terrified of the anger of the finer sex.

Fortunately, they landed soon after, and Beast Boy was in awe as he saw the forest, hues of reds oranges and yellows abound, leading off miles in every direction.

"Welcome to Forever Fall students. The sap Professor Peaches wants you to collect is found in the elder trees deeper into the woods, but there are Grimm in the area, so stay with your team." Before Beast Boy could even ask about which he should go with, her eyes landed on him. "Please decide whether you go with JNPR or RWBY."

As she walked back into the bulkhead the changeling saw Jaune go off with CRDN, so he waved his goodbye to the still embarrassed leader of team RWBY, joining NPR to collect sap.

The problem with that? Nora apparently loved the taste of the stuff, downing whole jars at least as fast as Pyrrha filled them up.

He had no idea where the bomber put it all.

They worked in a companionable silence for a long while, until his pointed ears twitched as he heard the distinct sound of glass breaking. He turned in that direction and saw Jaune, standing with defiance in his stance, facing down a shocked Cardin who had sap covering his armor.

"You can mess with me all you like, but don't even think of messing with Pyrrha, or the rest of my friends!" The blonde's hair was covering his eyes, but Beast Boy knew that tone. Holy crap he knew that tone. Waving for Pyrrha he climbed a tree to watch, ready to jump in if needed.

"You're making a mistake Arc. You think you can beat us all?" Cardin asked, staring down at the small knight, who had one hand on Crocea Mors' grip, while the other was clenched into a fist against his side.

Beast Boy couldn't hear Jaune's response, because instead he heard the whispers inside his head.

A Grimm was on its way, and it was a big one.

A huge roar pierced the world as a massive Ursa Major tore its way through the brush, bigger even than the Beast. Unsurprisingly, RDN ran off, leaving Jaune and Cardin to deal with the Grimm.

Beast Boy went to leap out and help, but Pyrrha hissed 'No!' to him, just loud enough that his enhanced senses picked up on it. Poking his head out of the tree and keeping his emerald eyes on Jaune, he questioned the champion.

"What are you doing? That's bigger than any Grimm but the Nevermore!"

"Let Jaune handle this."

"You're his partner, shouldn't you be backing him up?"

"Trust me, Jaune needs our faith in him."

Interrupting the back and forth, they were both distracted by the bright white light that was emanating from Jaune, who had pulled out a glowing Crocea Mors and activated his also glowing shield, doing battle with the Ursa with no stance to his name, although he was seemingly decent at blocking blows and using inertia.

"Pyrrha… Aura is the personification of the soul right?" He asked, still entranced by the lightshow.

"That's right. No one really knows what it means other than having a lot of Aura, like you or Jaune, shows how powerful your fighting spirit is." That made Beast Boy blink, but nod in acceptance. Judging by the shock everyone held when he used his Aura for a Kamehameha and a Rasengan, and how little such a display chipped off his Aura, he must have used a pretty advanced technique.

"He looks like he's having a bit of trouble." Jaune was beginning to get winded, the bright Aura surrounding him fading back within his body.

Instead of responding, Pyrrha raised her hand, which glowed black, as did Jaune's shield. The sheath of Crocea Mors raised itself along with Jaune's arm to deflect a blow from the Ursa Major, and the knight spun along with the sudden inertia, slicing the monster's head clean off.

"What did you do?" He asked the champion as he leaped out of the tree, still watching as Jaune grabbed Cardin by his armor, frustration palpable even from this distance.

"Well, Ruby has her speed, Weiss has her glyphs, and you can turn into animals. My Semblance is polarity." She grinned, both at Jaune making Cardin scamper off with his proverbial tail between his legs and at the changeling.

"No wonder you're invincible, no one can hit you if you control their weapons." Beast Boy nodded, it making great sense to him.

"I don't really like using my Semblance, I don't want to rely on it more than my skills in battle. Could you keep it a secret?" She asked with a modest blush on her face.

"Of course. I can understand wanting something secret." More than she could know. He suspiciously eyed Jaune, wondering where the power of his Aura had come from all of a sudden. Was he Trigon's first true vanguard?

No, Beast Boy realized he was just being paranoid as the now once again plucky and quite pleased with himself Jaune Arc came back to the rest of his team, laughing and helping Ren keep enough sap for a passing grade since Nora kept chugging it.

And then he collapsed, moaning about allergies.

"Looks like he needs you." Beast Boy chuckled, before realizing Pyrrha had already left his side to help Jaune up.

Figuring he was done invading his roommate's privacy for the day, he went to check on team RWBY, only to come across nothing of note happening.

Yang was reclining in the sun with aviator shades over her lilac eyes.

Blake was, surprise surprise, reading.

Ruby was eyeing the sap, possibly wondering if it would taste good in cookies.

Weiss was looking over Myrtenaster, cycling through the revolving hilt to check on her Dust stores.

"Wait. You guys missed Jaune kicking the utter shit out of a Grimm." He couldn't help but deadpan at the all female team, shaking his head and going to fill his own jar finally.

"Vomit-Boy did what now Greenie?" Yang asked, unexpectedly awake considering how she had been lying unmoving for a long while.

"He killed an Ursa Major and gave Cardin Winchester a piece of his mind." Beast Boy summarized the events as best he could without pointing out his suspicions about Trigon or revealing Pyrrha's Semblance.

"I guess the dunce isn't entirely inept." Weiss grudgingly admitted as she spun Myrtenaster's hilt once more before nodding and sheathing the rapier.

"Did you just compliment Jaune?" Blake asked with suspicion, looking up from Ninjas of Love (Weird title, Beast Boy thought.) for once to look at a now irate looking heiress.

"T-that thespian certainly doesn't deserve respect, just because he killed a Grimm!" Weiss defended her statement, and Blake went back to her book.

"That's better." Beast Boy couldn't help but wince as Jaune was dissed, but it made him feel more camaraderie with the blonde, having had the exact same treatment from Raven that he was suffering from Weiss (Though he had never gone as far as asking her out).

As Miss Goodwitch ushered them all onto the Bullhead, he decided that maybe, just maybe, things would calm down and he could finally get used to Remnant.

Atlas

"It was strange, but possible. Wake up." A voice ordered, and blue eyes opened as commanded.

"W-who?" A voice asked in response to the first as the awoken being touched its hand to its face, before clenching its temples as a strange flash hit, something running across its mind. "W-where…"

"We have much to talk about. But first… I would like you to meet your new… 'friend'." A pair of green eyes opened across the room, and sapphire met emerald.

"Salutations!"


	10. The More Things Change (Part 1)

Chapter 10: The More Things Change (Part 1)

Beast Boy shook off his thoughts as he heard fighting on the rooftop. Looking around JNPR's room, he noticed the only ones beside himself were Nora and Ren, who was being used as a teddy bear as the hammer-wielder slept.

Poor bastard, it must be like sleeping tied to a bomb.

He deduced that the noises were Jaune and Pyrrha, as the clashing sounds were from melee weapons, and Weiss would have been using Dust, he would have heard whooshing from Ruby, Blake he would hear Gambol Shroud going off, and he could hear Yang's snores from here.

He shrugged and tried to get to sleep. On the way back from Forever Fall Weiss mentioned interest in spying on (Greeting!) the competition for the Vytal Tournament that would start soon, and Ruby invited him to tag along much to the heiress' displeasure. Eventually she begrudgingly agreed to him joining them, but not until Ruby unleashed her puppy-dog eyes, much to the amusement of everyone involved.

Guess Ruby was even more convincing than Starfire with that technique, since it didn't work that often on Robin, but Weiss crumbled within a minute.

Sleep didn't meet him until Jaune and Pyrrha had returned to their room, the duo both beaming about their training.

His nightmares finally collided with him. A waterfall. Screams. Silence. The lash of a whip. Shocks from a collar around his neck. A coppery taste. Weakness. Strength. Red eyes flashing as his body fell to ashes. A masked man whispering lies. Fear. Running. More of the copper. A blunt impact to the solar plexus. Tightening around his neck. Being cleaved in two. Incinerated and deep-frozen at the same time. Crushing pain to the temple. Light yet painful blows that left movement impossible. Ferocious and shaking strikes of a blade across his chest. His hands reaching to claw out his throat as a blade assisted the decapitation.

He tore his way back into the realm of consciousness with an exclamation of pain, almost feeling the wounds that had been inflicted on him. Looking around, he praised whatever spirits watching over him when he saw he hadn't woken anyone up.

That meant he could have the first shower!

He sprung up and grabbed his jumpsuit, walking into JNPR's bathroom and starting the shower.

The water pressure was great, and so was the temperature, nice and steaming up the bathroom quickly. His one complaint was he had left his shampoo way back in Titans Tower a millenia ago.

See, Beast Boy's hair is more akin to fur than actual hair, which made using actual shampoo and conditioner a huge pain. So he had to use animal shampoo, much to the amusement of Cyborg when he found out.

On the bright side, he had never had fleas in his life.

Shrugging it off and deciding to deal with it, he forced himself to borrow some of Ren's shampoo, making a mental note to apologize and buy him some more (He would have considered using Jaune's, but the mango scent was already incredibly strong in the bottle).

After fulfilling his morning ritual he came out dressed and ready to go. He armed himself with Emerald Remembrance just in case, but he figured he wouldn't need it. He was just going to Vale with… RWBY.

On second thought, he would probably need his weapons.

The changeling, being cautious for once in his life, strapped the sheaths of his weapon onto his silver belt, looking for a brief moment at the Titan communicator he kept in one of the many pockets before putting it back. The thing was a useless trinket by this point, and yet he would keep it with him for as long as he could, yet another way to keep the memory of his friends alive.

Checking the time on his scroll he saw a message from Ruby, that they were eating breakfast before heading out and he was welcome to join them if he was already up. Silencing his chuckle to make sure JNPR didn't wake, he opened and closed the door, walking towards the mess hall (Cafeteria? He was never sure what the difference was).

Fortunately, things seemed peaceful, since Team RWBY was one of the only groups there, and Yang was barely awake. Weiss was as prim and proper as ever. Blake was reading. And Ruby…

Where the heck did she find cookies at 7 in the morning?

"Who'd she bribe to get the cookies?" He asked with a bit of a laugh, grabbing some fresh fruits, bread, and jam before sitting down beside Blake, who was at the edge of the group and gave him a nod of acknowledgement before going back to her book.

The more time he spent with this group, the more they really did remind him of the Titans. That made him want to harass Blake a bit, tell her jokes and all since she was the stand-offish and booky type like Raven, but he didn't want to go over any boundaries. Plus, Yang seemed to have dibs on that place.

Raven hadn't exactly been fond of him, and if he could mentally make amends by getting along with Blake, he would without hesitation.

"I think Yang found them somewhere…" After a while of silence where no one answered Beast Boy, the ninja he had been sitting next to finally spoke up, making him crack a smile.

"So was it a good idea for her to eat them?" He saw Blake's lips twitch slightly, almost forming a smile, as Ruby began scrubbing her tongue with a napkin as Yang tried really hard not to giggle. The reaper set her napkin down and faux glared at her older sister.

"This is blasphemy of the highest degree! How dare you even _consider_ cookies something to be tampered with?!" She asked dramatically, before she broke down in a fit of giggles, soon joined by Yang. Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes, but he saw the curve of their lips form, just as amused as the others but slightly more restrained.

After that comedic event the rest of breakfast passed relatively peacefully, though Weiss was still glancing to him on occasion, as was Blake. Ruby too. And Yang for that matter.

Did he have something on his face? Well, he had never been subtle before…

"What's up?" He asked, only to have Red and Black look away, their partners merely looking at him with curiosity.

"What… What kind of father of the Faunus are you to begin with?" He noticed Blake's bow twitch, and she looked to be paying rapt attention to the budding conversation.

Woah. He was really breaking out the bookworm words in his internal thoughts.

"I don't understand what you mean. You probably know more about it than I do." He shrugged, unsure of what the pale heiress meant by that.

"You're supposed to be this powerful figure that stands for everything Faunus. Who hates humans. I don't know if you really are and you're just hiding behind a dunce-like facade, or if you're just a cheap knockoff with a weird Semblance. Either way, while my team may trust you, I do not." Blake made a face that all but him missed (Bugging Raven meant he knew the signs of annoyance in body language), before they finished breakfast and started walking to the airstrip, which had Bullheads that would ferry them to the city.

"I don't really believe anything that says I'm the father of Faunus in all honesty. I think it's just weird. Sure, I'll stand for the Faunus, because while they may not be human that doesn't make them any lesser. Believe me, after seeing some of the things I have, humans aren't the best thing to be." His thoughts flashed to the Slade he knew before Remnant, to Adonis, to Johnny Rancid, to the Hive Five. To the… citizens of Jump. He shook his head of the cobwebs these thoughts formed, and he knew just the way to clear it. "Go ahead and get on the Bullhead dudettes, I'll catch up." They looked at him oddly, but nodded, watching with curiosity as he walked to Beacon's cliff, the end of the steep plateau that was nearest to the Bullheads.

Exhaling, he walked off of it, turning into an emerald raven that fluttered into the sky, hovering in place and waiting for the Bullhead to take off so it could lead him to Vale. It didn't take too long thankfully, and the armed avian followed behind the mechanical monstrosity.

His blank eyes widened when he saw Vale, the bustling metropolis run almost entirely on Dust. It was a beautiful city, and the way downtown was set up made his heart ache for Jump City. Vale looked almost eerily like the city he had spent years protecting, and he would do the same for this city alongside RWBY and JNPR.

The Bullhead landed and a bunch of Beacon students walked off, including Team RWBY, who were looking around for him. Smiling as much as he could in this form, he landed on Ruby's shoulder and cawed, startling the quartet and making him laugh internally.

"Polly wanna cracker!" He shifted into a parrot and squawked in a bid to be amusing.

Instead they all fixed glares at him, except Ruby, who was hardly containing giggles at the tiny talking bird on her shoulder.

"Okay Greenie, playtimes over. Get off Ruby." He nodded his assent at the blonde and hopped into the air, shifting into himself and laughing.

"You should have seen your faces! You knew I can change into-" He was cut short as Blake clapped her hand over his mouth. The understandably confused changeling raised an eyebrow.

"There has been a wave of crimes recently, so everyone is on high alert. If anyone hears you, you could be in danger." He sighed and nodded, allowing the ninja to release his mouth.

He could see her point, especially if there were any White Fang members nearby.

Blake sneezed, but started following behind Weiss, who was leading them towards the docks.

"Now remember, we are merely welcoming the other students, not-" At this point she leveled a glare at the singular male in the group, "-spying on them as some seem to believe." As soon as the heiress turned her back the whole team rolled their eyes and exchanged amused looks at the fencer's denial.

The group of five watched as a large cruise ship docked, and a blonde jumped from the side, being chased by a few security guards.

"Get back here you no-good stowaway!" One shouted at the teenager, who laughed and whipped a banana peel at the guard who spoke up… With his tail. Alright, a monkey Faunus then.

"I think I'm a pretty good stowaway considering you guys just now realized it!" He chortled, sprinting off right past RWBY and Beast Boy, who were all deadpanning at him.

"Well… That was a thing." Yang sent him a mock glare for taking her line, but didn't get a word in before Weiss exploded.

"Can you believe that ruffian?! What sort of scoundrel treats a ship full of Hunters and Huntresses preparing for a tournament like a cruise ship?" She asked, porcelain face almost glowing as she ranted and raved, until Blake stepped next to her, something… off… on her face.

"What makes you think he is a ruffian and scoundrel? The tail?" Her bow twitched, amber eyes hardening to flints as Beast Boy stepped between them.

"W-well, they did call him a stowaway. Faunus or not, that seems pretty scoundrelish." He tried to be a mediator, but frustrations were reaching a boiling point, and he couldn't cool them off.

"He's probably a White Fang degenerate as well. Certainly seems the type, no regard for rules or the safety of people." Blake flinched as if shot, before it seemed like she decided to go blow for blow with the heiress.

"He has to be White Fang because he's a Faunus?" Blake's tone was dangerous, and Beast Boy couldn't blame her.

"So just because you're a Schnee you're a pampered little princess who can't do anything yourself without daddy's money?" Okay, he had to reassess Weiss a little bit. Again. Sure, she could be like Robin a lot, but she also had some Kitten in her.

"Y-you…" The White themed member of Team RWBY waved her hand, and suddenly a small glyph appeared around his feet. Before he could react or even figure out what was going on, he had gone flying over Vale.

"You know, this is beginning to feel like a running joke." He laughed to himself before shifting into a flying squirrel, gliding down to land safely and without incident.

He could barely hear them now, even as he ran towards them and focused Aura into his already sensitive ears. He heard someone, Blake maybe, say something about being pushed around before he suddenly crashed into what felt like a wall, but in the shape of a person.

Opening his emerald eyes, they widened way past normal when he saw the duo he had run into.

The first, the one he had crashed into, had orange hair and was dressed very strangely, but was smiling exuberantly at the sight of him for some reason.

The second… He would know that face anywhere. Terra Markov, geomancer and traitor to the Titans, who turned to stone saving them from a volcano, the very same one that killed Slade. She was looking at him strangely, as if they had perhaps met in passing.

"T-terra? You're alive?" His voice cracked and made him wince, realizing how much it hurt and elated him all at once to see her after the incident he dubbed Aftershock.

"...Who's Terra? I'm Gaia." By Oum, or whoever they worshipped here, she even had the exact same voice! The Terra lookalike clutched her head, sapphire eyes flashing gold temporarily before returning to their normal hue. "Do… I know you stranger?" That hurt, more than he could imagine, but he shook his head.

"I can't say we do Gaia. You just… Look a lot like a friend of mine from a long time ago. I'm Beas- Garfield Logan." He reached his hand out for the blonde android to take, but her rust-haired companion took it and shook enthusiastically.

"Salutations Beas- Garfield Logan! I am Penny, and this is my friend Gaia!" It seemed that Gaia was a slightly more advanced version of Penny, since the latter looked unable to feel more than one emotion at once, but Terra- Gaia, her name is Gaia- was looking confused at him but also amused with her ginger counterpart.

He looked between the two, but his sight instead focused on a sprinting black shape, obviously Blake, barreling towards them with panic in her amber eyes.

"Sorry ladies, I'll see you later!" As she passed he sprinted after, shapeshifting into a cheetah to keep pace with the ninja.

The second she saw Garfield shapeshift, Gaia's eyes flashed gold again, and she resisted the urge to scream as she felt something impact her memory drive, deep golden Aura surrounding her before fading as quick as it came.

" _I'm Boy Beast, I mean Beast Bob… Er…. Beast Boy! Yeah, that one!"_

"Beast… Boy?" Penny looked at her friend with concern, though she would no doubt be showing curiosity if she were programmed a bit better.

"Gaia, he said his was name Beas- Garfield Logan, not Beast Boy." Gaia, barely hearing Penny, ran after the duo, making the copper-haired girl pout until she was crashed into yet again, this time by a girl who looked like red riding hood. "Salutations!"

He couldn't keep up with her, cheetahs were good for quick sprints, but not for the maintained pace Blake was running at. He pushed it though, fueling himself with his powerful Aura and making him glow a deep green as he kept going past nature's limits, or what they had been a millenia ago.

He tried not to think about whether the laws of nature had been rewritten by the Grimm being around.

He saw a little black bow, and the ninja wearing it, slip onto a Bullhead back to Beacon, so he shapeshifted into a falcon and flew after it, making sure to take advantage of the massive construct flying in front of him to reduce wind resistance and move even faster.

Once the Bullhead arrived Blake had slowed to a walk, looking up at a statue near the entrance that depicted a powerful warrior standing beside his team, fighting back Grimm with a sword and shield that looked a lot like the ones Jaune carried. To his shock she took off the bow that she had kept on pretty much every time he had seen her, revealing… Ohhh!

Happy he finally figured things out, he cleared his throat, making her jump about a foot in the air, amber eyes locked onto him as her muscles tensed, getting ready to run for it.

"So you're a Faunus? Have to say, the ears are kinda cute." He wagged his own pointed ones for comedic effect, and she had to force down a smile.

"Of course you're okay with this, you're practically the father of all Faunus." Yeah, he still wasn't comfortable with that title, but Blake needed help.

"Why'd you keep it a secret? You know I'm sure they would have been fine with it, even Weiss, she's not that cold." The newly revealed Faunus rolled her eyes, and he could hear a very faint 'Oum dammit!' from the direction of Vale, along with a familiar 'Hey!'.

"Just to be on the safe side. I've… Done some things I'm not completely fond of…" He nodded, and then he had an idea.

"Tell you what. How about you tell me your story, and I'll tell you about a friend of mine who kept secrets." Surprisingly, the secretive ninja nodded, lips curling slightly as she placed the bow back over her ears.

She led him back to the Bullheads, deciding to go back into Vale for some reason (He wasn't complaining, he could finally ride in it!), and missing a golden haired monkey Faunus who walked up to the statue, eyes closed.

"You know, you look better without the bow." He said as charmingly as he could before opening his eyes, finding that he was alone. "Why do I feel like I missed something important?"

"Remember when we were telling you about the White Fang?" Blake asked when they had finally arrived at a peaceful cafe. To her surprise, the changeling next to her had ordered chamomile tea, she didn't think he was the type.

"Yes, the Faunus rights activists turned terrorists?" The tea was actually quite calming, no wonder Raven loved it so much, especially when he was being bothersome. It helped sooth his nerves in fact. Blake would be the first person he's telling about any of his old friends… While he vehemently refused the idea that he would tell anyone about Trigon's inevitable return, he was sharing the story of Raven with the girl that was pretty much her incarnate soon.

"I… Used to be a member…" She admitted, taking a sip of her warm milk, looking away from his eyes and missing the understanding they held.

"Before they turned violent?" She nodded, bow twitching thanks to the ears behind it. He couldn't tell whether she had heard something, or he was bothering her.

"They practically raised me. I was at the front of every rally, every protest. But when the leadership changed so did our methods. Riots, vandalism, kidnappings… It was working better than ever, shops stopped refusing Faunus service, but it was out of fear. We were seen more like animals than ever, and that's why I left, cutting ties with the White Fang forever. An ex-terrorist hiding in plain sight, all thanks to a little black bow."

"So what's the problem?" At her sweatdrop, he clarified. "Well, you aren't a member anymore, you stopped when they became terrorists. Therefore, there isn't a problem at all Blake. Your record is cleaner than mine." He added the last sentence accidentally, getting a flashback to Uncle Galtry and all the crimes he had been forced to commit.

"What do you mean?" Her amber eyes narrowed, and he realized he'd have to change his plans. He would finally have to reveal everything he had done. He had avoided it with the Titans, but he guessed since Blake had shared, he would as well.

"It's… my origin story I guess. Back before Remnant, my parents died when I was four, and I was taken in by my uncle. A greedy man named Nicholas Galtry. At this point I had my powers, and he took advantage. He strapped a shock collar around my neck and made me do much worse. I fought police officers, robbed just about every high tech weapons lab in the world, kidnapped, mauled, you name it. I eventually got out thanks to Mento, a superhero who had the power of telepathy, and I joined his team the Doom Patrol as a way to pay penance. I ran eventually, after a disagreement where I saved their lives instead of stopping the villain, and became a member of a new team. At that point I wasn't making penance, I was just trying to do what was right. If anyone had ever learned what I had done…" He shook his head, and Blake nodded.

"Thank you…" He smiled at the Faunus, finishing his tea and standing up.

"So, how about we find Ruby Weiss and Yang, and we both apologize for ditching them?" He asked, grinning toothily as the ninja like girl rose to her feet.

"How do you feel about a stakeout first? A Schnee Dust Company freighter is coming into the docks later tonight with Dust, lots of it. We could prove whether or not the White Fang is behind the robberies."

"You know, that sounds just like something I missed about being a hero. I'll text the others that we're okay and that we'll be back tonight." He noticed the slightest pink tinge on Blake's face, but deigned to ignore it when she nodded her acceptance.

He had the strangest feeling that something interesting was going to happen, but if Blake didn't feel like they needed RW(B)Y, he wouldn't tell them where they'd be.

After all, it was just a stakeout. What could possibly go wrong?


	11. The More They Stay The Same (Part 2)

Chapter 11: The More They Stay the Same (Part 2)

Beast Boy had forgotten how boring stakeouts were. His scroll had been buzzing nearly off the hook since he had sent the message to RW(B)Y, and that meant he couldn't try to find an app to play on it to kill some time..

' _Hey dudes, don't worry, Blake and I are alright and we'll be back sometime tonight!'_

He honestly didn't see the issue, or why they were freaking out, but it must be a girl thing, since Blake had turned red when he tried explaining why he couldn't entertain himself.

Girls are still weird, at least that hasn't changed.

Before he could think to harass the Faunus further, he noticed a subtle change down on the docks. The workers were gone, and now there were Faunus wearing… Grimm masks. That sent a powerful shudder down his spine as he turned to Blake. From the way she was acting, this was definitely the White Fang.

"Why the masks?"

"In part to keep anonymity. Also in part a reaction to the way humans treat us. They act like we're monsters, so we act like them and look like them…" Blake's amber eyes narrowed when she saw a redheaded human strutting around in a fancy coat, bowler hat, and cane.

"Who's he? I thought the White Fang dudes didn't like humans." He looked over to his partner, only to see a blinking outline of where she had been. Looking down, he saw that Blake was stealthily making her way towards the redhead.

"Oh man, what is with my timing today? Where'd that cute catgirl go?" Beast Boy almost jumped a foot in the air as he turned and saw the stowaway Faunus from when he had last seen RW(B)Y.

Instead of saying anything, Beast Boy gestured downwards, to where she was getting closer and closer to the man dressed to the nines.

"Roman Torchwick? Working with the White Fang? That's not right…" The monkey Faunus peered over the environment before turning to the changeling. "Yo, the name's Sun Wukong."

"Beast Boy." He nodded in response, tuning in his ears to hear what was going on down below.

"Can't believe I have to dogsit, but at least you guys are house-trained." The redhead Blake was creeping towards, Roman Torchwick if Sun was right, smiled at a brutish looking White Fang member carrying a crate of Dust, who huffed and ignored him. "That's just weird, She picks the weirdest-" He was interrupted as Gambol Shroud was held to his throat. " Oh for f-" He was interrupted yet again as Blake spoke up.

"Brothers and sisters of the White Fang, why do you assist this man in his crimes? We stand for peace and equality, not helping a petty crook!" Her voice was strong, even if Roman looked unamused.

"Didn't you get the memo kitty-cat? You work for this _petty crook_ now, and this isn't just a simple robbery." He said this all as if he were merely discussing the weather, and as if on cue, a Bullhead reached them, massive in its scope. Unfortunately, that distracted Blake, allowing Roman to wrap his cane's hook around her neck and send her flying, crashing against a wall with a thud.

"We need to help Blake. I'll take the White Fang, you help with Torchwick?" In response Sun smirked and gave him a fistbump, before… throwing a banana peel at Roman Torchwick… and then kicking him in the face. The criminal shook it off without even moving, and Beast Boy froze when he saw the redhead's hair move. Was that…?

It was.

Trigon's symbol of servitude. That strange 'S' that Slade had once donned. However strong they thought this guy was, he had one helluva upgrade. Enough that it terrified him to think about.

"Sun, switch out! He's stronger than you think!" Beast Boy leaped down, and the Faunus turned to acknowledge him, and that ended with a high explosive roman candle sending him crashing into a warehouse, courtesy of Roman's cane.

"And who are you Greenie?" He asked with a smirk, even as he dodged Blake's ferocious attempts to maim him, or seriously injure.

"Someone who knows that mark on your forehead. Get ready for an ass-whooping buddy, you won't forget it anytime soon." Blake actually paused at that, allowing Roman to approach the changeling with a strange red glint in his pupil.

"Oh? Tell you what buddy. Call off your pussycat and I'll let you have one free shot." Beast Boy clenched his fists, but nodded, turning his eyes to Blake.

"Help Sun. This guy's outta your league. Hell, probably mine too. Call the others, this is gonna get messy." Blake motioned to her scroll, which had broken with the force Roman had thrown her. "Shit."

He unsheathed Emerald Remembrance, looking around. This guy had Aura, and was theoretically about as much of a badass as Slade when he was powered up by Trigon, maybe even more so.

He shifted them into Blood's Thorns via Raven's magic figuring he may as well start strong with a Kamehameha. He didn't shout the name of his attack though, this was serious business after all, and he needed to take this guy out before he brought about another end of the world.

"Eat… This!" He let out a primal roar as his instincts partially took hold, the Beast aiding his movements from within so that the second the beam attack left his hands he was shifting into a cheetah and running around behind Roman, who had held his cane out, using his weapon as a conduit for his Aura and firing off a red attack similar to Beast Boy's that cancelled each other out.

Idly wondering if that counted as a beam war, the changeling sprinted at him, turning into a Sasquatch and sending a brutal haymaker at the criminal, who once again didn't react to the blow at all, instead just puffing on his cigar.

"Come on, that the best you got? At most you'll wrinkle my suit." Roman scrunched his nose up at the thought, nary a scratch on him, not even his cream colored suit was damaged. "Have to say, kinda weird Semblance you've got there. We could use someone like you Greenie." Beast Boy laughed, even as he heard the whispers of the members of the White Fang.

" _The Master of Beasts?"_

" _Could the legend be true?"_

" _Why isn't he helping us?"_

"Sorry bud. I've got friends that would kick my butt if I even thought about betraying them." The changeling responded, charging up his Aura and firing a Kamehameha at the Bullhead, only to deadpan when he saw it hadn't done much. He'd have to charge it for much longer to do any real damage, and he couldn't do that while also taking on Torchwick.

"Hey now Greenie, that's gonna come outta my haul!" Roman's body flickered for a moment, and suddenly the criminal was in front of the hero, slamming his cane into Beast Boy with the force of a hurricane behind the blow, sending him crashing through a crate of Dust and causing an explosion of ice and fire… and lightning.

His Aura was fine, but he couldn't move due to temporary paralysis. Fortunately, reinforcements had arrived, but they weren't the ones he expected.

"Beast Boy!" Terra- Gaia, he meant Gaia- leaped into the fray, alongside Penny. Neither were armed.

"Gaia, Penny, this is serious business! Leave before you get hurt!" The duo saw him, but they both smirked.

"Not to worry Beas- Garfield Logan, I'm combat ready!" Penny shouted with a fist held high, as thin swords with the symbol for power on them, at least 50 of them, appeared from behind her, taking the shape of wings as she suddenly sweeped her hand in front of her, sending the White Fang sprawling before they started spinning in front of her, faster and faster as energy built up.

"And don't worry about me either… Gar… I've got this!" Gaia looked unsure calling him that, but nodded as if it felt right, before she clenched her fists and uprooted a chunk of cement the size of a car, sending it around herself to pick up dizzying inertia as well as maim or permanently injure the poor fools who were too close.

In perfect synchronization, Gaia threw her sizable heap of manmade material as Penny blasted a massive amount of energy from the center of her circling swords, both tech and earth flying towards the Bullhead at impressive speeds.

The ensuing explosion, caused by the reaction of Penny's Aura beam with the Dust within the Bullhead, was deafening, bright, and knocked everyone onto their rears. When Beast Boy could see again, Roman was standing over him, taking a puff from his cigarette.

"You know Greenie, we could have worked together. It would have been grand having someone competent under my command. But hey, no skin off my back. If the lady, or even that bullheaded leader of the White Fang wants their hands on you, that's their business. But remember kid, in the eyes of me and my real boss," He tapped the symbol on his forehead, his pupils flashing red, "You're an enemy. Stay out of our way, or I'll kill you." With that, the cane met his skull and everything went dark.

He looked up and saw Titans Tower, rended into Trigon's twisted throne. In it sat the demon itself, who glared down at him with four glowing malevolent eyes.

" **You aren't much of a threat you know. Without my daughter, you won't even be able to know when I come, much less survive my arrival. Soon my strength will have fully returned, and I will finally take the world you have thus far denied me."** The voice boomed, making his dreamscape ripple even as it tore a migraine through his brain.

"I'm… stronger than I was last time. I will only get stronger. When you arrive, I'll be ready." Beast Boy spoke with conviction he didn't feel, reaching for weapons and not finding them, and even finding shifting beyond his reach.

" **I welcome you to try…"** The voice laughed, an evil, distorted sound that ripped everything away from the changeling, forcing him to drift through an inky void, devoid of all feeling.

It remained this way for what seemed like days, weeks, months, perhaps even years; he couldn't tell. Had Trigon arrived? Was he dead?

Were RWBY and JNPR dead? Gaia? Penny? Sun?

No… No! He couldn't just float here, useless, while the world Ends again. While his friends die again. He had to do something. Anything. He had to move…

He had to wake up!

Emerald eyes tore open, and they met eleven different sets of eyes, his friends as well as Gaia, Penny, and Sun. They were all looking incredibly relieved.

"Hey dudes…" He sat up, wincing as his head complained very painfully. "Anyone get the number of that Boarbatusk?"

 **And so ends Volume 1 of Changeling the Remnant. Hope you all enjoyed it! This story will be continuing on through canon, but will receive several changes. Some obvious, and some that won't be.**

 **And now: Shameful self advertising. If you like my work, you could always check my Fictionpress (Under the same name: CDSoundtrack), and check out my original content, which currently is only one story but... Y'know. There'll be more in time.**

 **Now that that's over with I hope you all let me know what you think, and answer the poll on my page about Jaune's ever mysterious Semblance!**


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